Fly Fluttershy
by BrilliantCreativity
Summary: Fluttershy visits her friend, Discord, and encounters a strange look alike. Since then she has been haunted by nightmares and visions about her future, which leads her to the Crystal Empire. Along her journey Discord adapts stronger feelings for her and swears to protect her from harm. PS: I do not own cover image. HARD FLUTTERCORD SHIPPING
1. Chapter 1: Seeing a Friend

Fluttershy started to leave her cottage but was suddenly stopped by a small, white bunny yanking at her tail. She looked down to find Angle looking crossed and patting his foot rapidly.

"What is it Angle?" she asked. The furry white rabbit thumped and pointed to his empty food bowl inside her living room.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry. I can't believe I almost forgot," Fluttershy apologized.

She slowly flew back inside and filled up his bowl with green lettuce. After she made sure everything was taken care of she trotted back outside and, before closing the door, waved goodbye.

"Be back soon!" she yelled, in more of a whisper than a yelp.

She walked to the train station near the edge of Ponyville and got a ride to Canterlot. She was well aware of the fact that she could fly there but felt too scared to fly so high and for such a long distance. Despite being a Pegasi she didn't use her wings too often and when she did, she flew at a steady pace and near the ground.

She sat on the train watching the world go by as if she were traveling through time, seeing everything that would happen in the next few moons. Although she seemed content with her life, she couldn't help but feel...alone. Every pony else seemed satisfied and had freedom, they weren't scared of anything and weren't judged.

Although she knew there were other ponies who did feel that way she felt as if it was only her who wasn't totally satisfied with her life. Even now she is scared of her own shadow, fly's close to the ground, avoids most ponies and hardly speaks to them as if each one of them has a dark secret waiting to be unleashed upon her. This was how she felt, about herself and the world around her.

All the thoughts in her head were halted as the train came to a stop for Canterlot. She steadily got off and left to visit her friend. It had been a while since they talked and enjoyed an afternoon together.

Fluttershy paced herself towards his stay away home by Canterlot Castle. She reached the door.

 _Knock, Knock._

The doors stayed closed, she was about to knock again when Discord materialized right underneath her. Fluttershy was hoisted into the air by a grinning Draconequus.

He slowly set her down.

"You know it's so nice to see you. I was getting bored with that flying Orange," he smirked.

"I know, its been so long since we had some time to ourselves."

Discord nodded.

"Oh, how rude of me. Come in, come in."

Fluttershy walked into Discord's temporary home, that looked much smaller on the outside, had mismatched wallpaper and furniture. There was upside down doors and staircases that just hit the roof that didn't lead anywhere. Although this wasn't unusual, it being Discord and all, it still took Fluttershy a while to absorb it all.

They walked into his living room with multi coloured plaid armchairs. Discord sat down on the biggest one and padded the spot next to him for Fluttershy.

"I trust you had a safe trip?" asked Discord.

"Oh, yes. Although I felt like I was in such a rush I almost forgot to feed Angle," she giggled.

Discord chuckled.

"That bunny can go without food for a few hours, you can't just let a rabbit push you around," he added.

"Oh, but I don't mind. After all he needs his vegetables, running around all the time."

Fluttershy smiled but Discord just raised his eyebrow. Fluttershy ignored his gaze.

"So how are you doing, now working with the princess' and all?" she inquired.

"Well, it does get quite boring but it's better that being entrapped in a stone prison."

"I guess it could get quite boring, having no freedom over your capabilities. But I would think anything would be better than being entrapped in stone," she joked. Despite her comment, Discord couldn't help but feel she was hiding something.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What?" she responded but not yet answering his question.

"I can tell something is bothering you."

Fluttershy showed no expression and turned away to face her hooves.

Discord put his paw to her face and saw her eyes glossing over. He looked surprised, as she had been fine 1 minute ago. He moved closer to her.

"Fluttershy, whats wrong?" He cared and she could tell. He grabbed one of her hooves. She sighed.

"It's just. Ever since I was a Filly I never knew what I wanted and now I...I do. But I know theres nothing I can do to have that now. It's too late."

"Well, what is it you want?" Discord was curious, he didn't like seeing her upset and troubled.

"I want freedom," she looked him in his red eyes, "I don't want to be scared anymore, or feel like I'm helpless and alone. In the dark, I don't feel safe or in control of anything. I sleep with a nightlight Discord, because I'm afraid of what could be in the dark. I just want to be free of all that." She took a breath and paused, looking back down.

"Hey. You may not be the bravest pony I've ever met, but you have so many other traits that make up for that. I'm not a super mushy Draconequus so I won't go on about how smart, beautiful, funny, and kind you are. But just know that you have nothing to worry about." He sighed. Wow he had never really been one to give sympathy but something about that look in Fluttershy's eyes made it seem easy and needed.

Fluttershy smiled and pulled him into an embrace.

"Thank you Discord," she said lightly. At first Discord didn't expect the hug so he was a bit shaken, but he quickly returned the embraced.

Once they had finished the hug, Discord wiped the small tears off Fluttershy's cheek with his paw.

She smiled up at him.

"Tea?" he suggested. Fluttershy nodded. With a snap of his claw a warm cup of Chamomile tea appeared in Fluttershy's hooves. She took a sip, carefully trying not to burn herself.

"Thank you Discord."

He simply nodded and materialized a glass of Chocolate Milk with a swirly straw. Fluttershy grinned.

They talked for a while about work and how life had been so far until the sun started to set.

"Dinner?" he asked. Fluttershy looked outside and thought she could spare another hour. She nodded, Discord held out his claw for her to take. She slowly took it as he led her to the dining room.

Fluttershy sat at a round wooden table, with several seats. She looked up at Discord and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you never know when you could have company," he said while rubbing the back of is head. She just smirked and hopped onto a chair.

Discord used his magic to make a Chef's outfit appear on him.

"So what will it be for the lovely lady?" he asked.

"Sandwich? Please."

Before she could blink, there was a sandwich with lettuce, dandelions, whole wheat bread and some sort of sauce; just the way she liked it.

"Voila," he said feeling proud of himself that was so simple.

She took a bite.

"Hmm, yum," she spoke with her mouth full of sandwich. Discord beamed and sat down with a bigger glass of chocolate milk and a bowl of paper. Once again Fluttershy laughed.

"What?" he glanced.

"Do you remember the day when you were released from your stone prison?" she asked, "by us I mean."

"Yes." he didn't have much to say.

"And how I took you to my cottage...I found you eating paper, which we later discovered was the reforming spells?"

"Heh, yeah, seems so long ago," he replied softly.

There was a moment of silence, and it felt a bit awkward.

"Discord?" she asked. He looked up at her.

"Yes."

"I...I'm really glad that we're friends."

"Me too."

They both smiled at each other and glanced back at their food.

Once she had finished she wiped her mouth with a napkin and put it down.

"I guess I should be leaving."

Discord looked at her and then grinned.

"Right, well I guess I'll see you sometime around Ponyville or Canterlot."

She nodded, and started towards the door.

"Bye Discord." She said as she left through the door. Once she was gone, Discord used his magic to clean the dishes and put them away.

"Bye Fluttershy," he whispered under his breath.

Fluttershy started walking away from his house when she heard something.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy!" she turned and saw...herself?


	2. Chapter 2: What Happened?

Fluttershy was shocked, she wanted to run but the look in this twin gave her sorrow and pity. She took a step closer and realized what was different about this Fluttershy. This clone looked drained, grey, dark and her eyes were green with red pupils and purple smoke coming out of them.

"Who are you?" asked the real Fluttershy.

"I'm...I'm you. Flutter...Fluttershy you must listen to me. Don't go to the Cry...the Crys," this clone was disappearing, "Don't listen to him!" And then she was gone. Fluttershy was shocked but what scared her even more was that just before she disappeared, she saw eyes of purple and green, and a cruel voice.

"You will give in to me," there was an evil grin and, just like her twin, vanished. Fluttershy was terrified and full of fear, her heart pounded and pounded and then it just...stopped.  
She tumbled to her hooves unconscious and weak.

Discord was about to go to bed, but just before he did he moved to the window to close the drapes only to see a yellow Pegasus lying on the dirt ground. His eyes widened with shock and materialized by her side. He quickly took her in his arms.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy what, what happened?" he didn't receive an answer. He put his head to her chest and, at first, didn't hear a heartbeat. Tears started to puddle in his eyes as he stared down at her.

"No, no no no no no," he repeated.

But just as he started to move his head away he heard it, a heartbeat. He quickly looked at her and saw her breathing and hugged her close and tight. He ran his paw down her soft pink hair and held her there in the dark. He was so relieved and held her so tight, as if he would never let go. She started to move and tears started running down her face. Discord could feel the water on his shoulder and quickly looked down at her.

"Thank Celestia, you nearly gave me a heart attack, but it seems you beat me to it." Her eyes slowly opened but something was different, it was as if once she opened her eyes something had left them. He removed a pink strand of hair from her face.

"What in Equestria happened!?"  
She still remained silent and kept her eyes open to look around. Once she had looked everywhere her head could turn, she faced Discord and began crying again. Discord said nothing and pulled her back into an embrace and materialized them back onto his couch.

"Flutter..." he was interrupted.

"I saw...I saw me," she weeped. Discord was so confused but figured that this wasn't the best time to talk about it.

"Why don't you spend the night, and we talk about this in the morning?"  
She looked up at him.

"I have a guest room," she nodded, gave him the ghost of a smile, and wiped a tear away. Discord stood up, still holding her. He walked into a room that he had decorated to Fluttershy's liking in a mere second, and walked over to the green and pink bed. He moved a corner of the sheets and set her down on the comforter, placing the blankets overtop of her. She settled down and took a deep breath. Discord leaned toward her and kissed her cheek, blushing a bit afterward but Fluttershy didn't seem to mind.

He was about to leave when he remembered something, he used his magic to create a simple lamp appear on the bedside table. Fluttershy smiled, appreciating his consideration. He left the room with fully closing the door.

"Goodnight," he said.

"Goodnight," she yawned.

She was in the dark, a dark figure moved swiftly around her around her. She cowered in fear until she was blasted with a beam of black and dark magic that sent her flying against what seemed to be nothing. The magic seemed to conceal her and go in out of her. She could feel herself getting weaker and weaker. Her wings fell and her mane and coat lost their vibrant colour. The figure started to move towards her, she wanted to run but couldn't. He lifted her by his magic and used a strange spell that felt like knives were being plunged in her. It felt like she was on the end of the world and falling faster and faster.

 _Gasp._

Fluttershy awoke from her nightmare and hugged the blankets tight. She sat up looked around the room that was still in its previous state. She drew a sigh of relief and fell back down. She tried to go back to sleep but a part of her didn't seem to want her too.  
She got out of bed and walked into the hallway to Discord's room.  
The door was half open but she knocked on it anyway.

 _Knock Knock._

She saw him turn underneath his sheets and mumble.

"Discord?" she said quietly.

"Hmm?" he said still tired.

"Can I...would it be alright if I, um slept with you tonight?" at that question Discord sat up in bed, wide awake it seemed, and could see her pleading eyes.

"Uh, sure," he agreed. Fluttershy gave a slight smile and walked over to his bed and got underneath the covers beside him. He was so curious as to what she was thinking and what she had experienced that night.

Fluttershy had fallen asleep and Discord was about to doze off when he saw Fluttershy tossing and mumbling in a voice he knew too well, fear. He didn't know what else to do so he gently tugged her closer until she was in his arms and safe. Once he had wrapped his ams around her, he noticed she had stopped quivering and looked at peace. Discord grinned and fell asleep.

In the morning Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes in the sunlit room. Discord was no longer in the bed.

"Eep!" she screeched, as Discord materialized beside her.

"Good morning Fluttershy, now that you are awake and well could you please explain to me exactly what happened!?"

"Oh, umm I suppose but... I thought you had a meeting with Celestia today?"

"I cancelled."

"Oh, why?"

"Because I was worried about you and had a story to hear," he squinted his eyes. Fluttershy took a deep breath.

"As I started leaving your house I heard some pony call my name and she look exactly like me except that..." she paused.

"What?" he waited anxiously.

"She looked so weak and grey, drained of any sign of life. It scared me to see myself like that, but she tried to tell me something that seemed important."

"Like what?"

"Se told me not to go somewhere and not to listen to "him"..." Discord interrupted her.

"Him? who's him?"

"I'm not sure but I...I saw something else. Some pony else was there with her. It must've been a colt but it sounded like a monster. He cut off the connection between us and both of them disappeared."

Discord stared at her, concerned and worried.

"Do you know what he looked like?"

"He had glowing green eyes, red pupils and purple smoke coming out of them and he...he," she took a deep breath.

"He said something to me."  
Discord stared at her intently.

"He said that I will give into him."  
Discord was dumbstruck. _Who is this guy? What does he want with Fluttershy? Will something happen to her? When will it happen?_

He hugged her and she accepted it. A tear trickled down both their cheeks.


	3. Chapter 3: It will be ok?

Discord knew that Fluttershy was in trouble in some way, but what bothered him the most was that he didn't know how to fix it. This Pegasus, his first friend, the first pony he ever cared about was here in his arms. She was in some sort of danger and there was just nothing he could do about it, at least not that he knew about.

He stared at her beautiful glossy teal eyes, her soft light pink mane and her pale yellow coat. It was one of t he rare moments where you realize how much you truly care about someone.

"Discord?"

He pulled her away to look at her.

"Yes?" he replied.

"What's happening to me?" Quite frankly he didn't know the answer to that.

"I…I really don't know." She sulked and sighed. He put his paw to her cheek and lifted her head up to look at her.

"But I do know that you'll be fine," he lied; he didn't know for sure that she'd be fine at all. The thought of that made him feel guilty, what if something did happen. If something were to happen to her, he would've blamed himself for telling her she would be ok.

He sighed.

"Do you have any idea who he could be? It is a he, isn't it?" asked Discord.

"Yeah, I think so."  
Discord seemed to be taking repeated breaths. He hugged her tight, once again, but this time he held her in his arms where here hooves couldn't touch the bed spread.

"Thank you," whisper Fluttershy. Discord looked at her curiously.

"For what?"

"You know, for caring and well...just being here," she blushed and didn't really know what she had just said, but she had other things on her mind right now.  
He nodded.

"Fluttershy?" his voice sounded more serious now.

"Yes?"

"I don't know if you will or when you will meet this colt, but when you do, call for me immediately." He stared at her with wide eyes and both paw and claw on her shoulders. She nodded. They both, again, took a deep breath.

"So, when should I go back to Ponyville?" she wondered. Discord hadn't really thought about that, but now that it had come to mind he put deep thought into it.

"What do you have to do in Ponyville?"

"Well Angel and the rest of my animals need feeding and being cared for. Umm, I promised Twilight that I would help dust her old books off and cloud bust with Rainbow. Just casual stuff."  
He thought about it.

"You...cloud busting?"  
She just blushed and let her ears flop.

"What do you say I go with you to Ponyville? I can feed your animals quicker and helping Twilight will be a snap. We can come back to my house when all of its done?" he suggested.

"Oh Discord, thats very sweet but I'm gonna have to leave at some point. I can't live here forever with you teleporting us back and forth. Besides you have to work for Celestia and I wouldn't wanna get in the way of that."  
Discord lowered his head and thought about the points she'd made.

"I suppose you're right." He scratched the back of his head. Fluttershy put a hoof to his claw and smiled.

"But...maybe just one more night?" he asked eagerly. Fluttershy let out, yet another sigh but nodded. He grinned happily.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

"Yes please."

After they had pancakes, Discord teleported them both to Fluttershy's cottage where they fed the animals.

"Hey Angel," Discord sneered while eying the rabbit. The fluffy bunny just stuck out its tongue. The Draconequus just stuck his back, like a mature civilian.

Discord sat on Fluttershy's long green couch and watched as she flew to shelves and prepared the animals food.

"Want help?" he asked.

"No its ok," she replied sweetly. Discord shrugged his shoulders and began reading a newspaper when a question entered his mind.

"You don't seem to mind flying in your cottage."

"Well, I don't fly very high and I know it's safe. I'm confident in here, more or less anyway."  
He nodded in agreement and continued reading.

When she was all done they began walking to Twilight's Castle. Discord complained a bit, knowing that he could just materialize them there in a second but Fluttershy said she felt like taking a walk.  
She was silent the whole time, pondering who that strange dark figure was and why it haunted her so much. It seemed to seek her out in a strange and creepy way that frightened her.

When they arrived at Twilight's Castle Fluttershy knocked, even though Twilight probably wouldn't mind if she just stepped in.

 _Knock Knock._

Twilight opened the big, gold Castle doors.

"Hi Flutter... oh hello Discord. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Eh," was all he could say as he shrugged his shoulders.

"You ready there's a lot of books to cover, and dust?" Twilight said while attempting but failing to make a joke. Discord kept the snide comments to himself, he didn't want to upset Fluttershy, no matter how small.

Fluttershy smiled at Twilight, even though she could tell that the joke was terrible. Twilight led them to the library where, probably, thousands of books lay upon the shelves.

"Well, lets get started. Discord, want to help?" she looked up at him.

"No, you gals have fun. I'm just here for support." he smirked. But that got Twilight thinking, _Why is he here anyway?_

"What are you doing here?" she emphasized "are". Discord looked at Fluttershy, and she shook her head with wide eyes. They were hoping Twilight didn't notice.

"What?" she did notice.

"Fluttershy, did something happen?" her voice grew more intense.

"No, I'm fine. Discord was just in Ponyville and we thought that we could walk around." she bluffed, Twilight seemed fooled. Discord nodded along with the story.

"You're sure?" she looked at Fluttershy for one more check.

"Mhhmh," she nodded.

"Ok. Well lets get to work, these books won't dust themselves."

They dusted more than half the books when Spike ran in with a scroll in his hand. He stopped in front of Twilight as she used her magic to unfold the scroll.

 _Dear Twilight_

 _this is not urgent but I was wondering if you knew about Discord's whereabouts. He told me he was busy today but he didn't say what with, do you know if he is alright? If not, ask Fluttershy; she seems to know the most about Discord._

 _Sincerely Celestia._

Twilight looked over at Discord although he didn't seem to notice her gaze.

"Thank you," she nodded at Spike.

"At your service m'lady," he said as he saluted her and took off.

"So...Discord, what were you doing in Ponyville today?" she questioned, hoping to get a reason out of him.

"Oh, well I was just so bored and thought _hey why don't I see what Flutters is up to."_

Now Twilight knew something was up, but she wasn't gonna push any further.


	4. Chapter 4: Clouds

Twilight was very curious but didn't want to seem too up in their business.

"Sooo, Fluttershy. What have you been up to?" Twilight pried.

"Oh me. Not much at all really, I've just sorta been hanging around and watching my animals," Fluttershy answered while trying to hold back as much as possible. She didn't want Twilight butting in, not yet anyway.

When all was done Fluttershy realized she should get going.

"Sorry Twilight, but I have to go."

"Oh, no trouble. What are you up to?" she asked curiously, hoping to get something out of this Pegasus.

"I'm helping Rainbow Dash today. We're busting clouds so AppleJack can get a good start on her harvest this year," she replied. It wasn't quite the answer Twilight was looking for.

"Wait. You. Are helping. Rainbow Dash. Cloud bust?" she said with a bit of a smirk. Fluttershy just rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know. But Dash said it would help boost my confidence when I fly."

"Ah huh," Twilight nodded, still smiling and laughing on the inside. Fluttershy had a non-impressed expression on her face. She looked at Discord.

"Come on Discord. Bye Twilight," she looked at Twilight and gave her an annoyed tone.

"Huh, bye," she giggle. Fluttershy just ignored her and trotted out. Once she and Discord were out of the library she turned to Discord.

"That went somewhat well."

"Ha."

"What?" she looked puzzled.

"I just thought it was kinda funny how Twilight said that." Fluttershy gently nudged his paw as if it were a small punch.

"Hey," he glared at her childish like. She just smiled.

They walked out of Twilight's castle and slowly flew up into the sky. As Fluttershy got higher, her breath grew heavier and faster. She looked down, mistake.

"Eeeeh!" she squeaked. She wanted to fold her wings back in but knew that things wouldn't go so well if she did that. Discord turned back to see her freaking out. He sighed and flew over to her side.

"Just don't look down, look up instead and just think about how ducks and birds do the exact same thing. Ok?" he reassured her. She nodded while letting out a gasp of air.

"There you are," Rainbow Dash said as she flew towards them.

"You ready Fluttershy? Hey Discord...what are you doing here?" She got no response from Fluttershy but Discord simply shrugged.

"Is it wrong to want to spend some quality time with my _friends?"  
_ Rainbow just eyed him but then ignored him.

"Fluttershy?"

"Yeah," she said quickly, focusing on her breathing.

"You ok?"

"Umm, I think so."

"Great, come on," Rainbow said as she seemed totally oblivious to Fluttershy's flying ability. Fluttershy nodded and slowly flew after Dash with Discord following close behind Fluttershy.

They flew a while. Fluttershy was wondering where they were going until they approached a place that terrified Fluttershy. The Everfree Forest.

"What are we doing here?" asked a nervous and scared Pegasus.

"Zecora told me that the Poisonous Joke are having trouble growing due to the lack of warmth."

"Why does she need Poisonous Joke?"

"It's an important ingredient for a medicine she needs. She recently got a bad virus and needs to make a cure."

"Oh."

They flew right above the grove of Poisonous Joke.

Rainbow started flying in and out of clouds. Fluttershy flew up to one and started poking it with her hoof.

"Come on Fluttershy, you can do it it's not that hard." Fluttershy looked at her and turned around to kick it. The cloud slowly disappeared and Fluttershy smiled with glee.

"Good. Now another reason I brought you is because I know what how gentile you are so I have an important job for you." Fluttershy's eyes grew wide. _Oh dear._

"You see those grey clouds over there?" she pointed to the group of clouds farther off.

"Umm, yeah."

"Every time one of them strikes it moves them closer to Zecora's hut. We need to get rid of them before that happens."

"What do I have to do with that?" asked Fluttershy, now growing more shaken.

"To get rid of those clouds we have to move them, there is no safe way of getting rid of them unless you want to get electrocuted..." she was interrupted.

"Hold on a second. You want _Fluttershy_ to handle a bunch of clouds that could shock her into unconsciousness?" Discord said concerned.

"Umm...yes?" as if she was wondering what the right thing to say was. Fluttershy's eyes grew twice as wide as before and Discord just stared at her like she was some crazy pony.

"Ugh. Anyway. Since you can handle things ever so carefully I wanted you to do it."

"I could just do it, you know?" Discord inquired.

"No. Fluttershy needs to be more confident and you aren't even supposed to be here, so either butt out or leave." It was a question it was a demand. Discord just frowned and folded his paw and claw.

"Now, _Fluttershy_ can you do it?"  
Fluttershy knew that this was not a good idea but she was too weak at flying already and wanted to be useful. She nodded.

"Good."  
Rainbow flew back into work while Fluttershy eyed the clouds. _GULP._ She slowly flew over to them.

Discord flew to Rainbow Dash.

"Are you serious?" He seemed stern.

"What?" she realized what he was talking about, "Oh she'll be fine. She needs a boost."

"You don't really expect her to be able to handle something like that right away, do you?!"

"Chill dude. Why do you even care so much?" she eyed him which made him move his head back a few inches.

"She's my friend," he said, with a blank expression. Rainbow stopped what she was doing and folded her hooves in front of her.

"I think it's more than that," she said with a smirk but still glaring.

" _She's my friend!"_ that was all he could say.

"Sure," she said and then turned around. Discord flew back to his spot and thought about what she had said, _I think it's more than that._

Fluttershy neared the clouds and had a static expression across her face. She slowly put her hoof against it, with the most careful touch and slowly nudged it. She relaxed a bit more and started to fly it away in the direction of the Castle of the Two Sisters.  
After she had done that with half the clouds she had become much for comfortable handling them. She was almost at the castle when Rainbow approached her leaving Discord to try and clear the sky, without magic.

"Flutters?"

"Yeah."

"I think Discord has the hots for you." Fluttershy had a blank expression and didn't really know what to say.

"Oh," she was blushing and she could feel it. She tried to her complexion but no matter what she couldn't stop being as pink as her hair.

"Wait, do you like him?" Rainbow asked with big and curious eyes.

"Umm...in what way?" she wanted to avoid the question but Rainbow was now interested.

"Like, more than a friend? The way I think he likes you?" she was quite anxious for a response but seemed concerned as well, this scared Fluttershy.

"Uh...I don't know," she stuttered.

"Just give me a straight answer."

"I don't have to," she said sternly.

"Yes you do," she flew closer to Fluttershy.

"NO I don't," Fluttershy was getting frustrated.

"Fluttershy just say it. How do you feel!"

"Leave me alone!" she screeched and hit the grey cloud. A charge of lighting surged through Fluttershy which sent her tumbling out of the sky and heading into the trees of the Everfree forest.


	5. Chapter 5: Ouch!

Fluttershy was falling fast into the trees.

"Jesus!" Rainbow panicked.  
Rainbow tried to reach her but the branches of the trees poked her and made it impossible to get to her.

"Discord! Do something!" she yelled. Rainbow was intertwined in the branches and couldn't get out, but that wasn't what she was worried about. Discord turned in her direction and saw her stuck in the branches.

"What happened to you?"

"Shut up! Fluttershy!" she pointed at the unconscious pegasus falling closer to the ground. Discord said nothing and acted quickly.

As Rainbow and Discord had their short conversation Fluttershy was hit, bruised, hurt and cut along the trees. Once Discord had realized what was happening he quickly tried to materialize next to her. But his magic wouldn't work because he wouldn't be able to materialize in the trees and she was moving too fast.

"Work damn it!" sweat ran down his face. Instead, he flew faster than he ever had, dodging trees and rushing towards her.

"Fluttershy!" he yelled, trying to wake her up even though it was useless. His arms were open and was about to catch her when a branch was flung in his face from her impact on it. He was blinded and was stalled. He wouldn't see what she would fall into but at this point it didn't really matter. He tried to untwine himself from the branches but by the time he had done that, Fluttershy had hit impact into Froggy Bottom Bog. She was sinking into the muddy water, unknowing of anything that was happening. Discord made the branches vanish and flew down into the swamp. It was mucky and he could barely see, but he could feel her mane under the goo and slowly grabbed her.

Discord carried her to the edge of the pond and cleaned off the mud with his magic. He stared at her cuts, bruises, there was blood and a big black mark on her right front hoof. He was in shock of what ad befallen the Pegasus.

Rainbow came flying down, finally free, and rushed over to them.

"Fluttershy! Oh I'm so sorry, I should've know not to ask you something like that around a storm cloud. Ugh this is all my fault. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Rainbow weeped.

"What did you do?" Discord glared at Rainbow with a glow in his eyes.

"Hey I didn't mean to. I just tried to ask her a question and she flipped out."  
Discord kept staring at Rainbow with an anger and sadness in his eyes. He turned back to Fluttershy.

"Sweet Celestia we need to get her to a Hospital!" Discord rushed.

"Can't you use your magic to fix her or something?" Rainbow implied.

"You don't understand. There's too much damage and I can't wake her from unconsciousness!"

"I thought you could do anything?"

"It depends how you look at it," he said strictly. He vanished with Fluttershy in his clutches, leaving Rainbow in the woods.

"Hey!" she gave an annoyed yelp and flew off.

Discord appeared at the Hospital.

"Doc! I need your help!" he cried as he held out the pegasus.

"Oh yes, right away. Come with me," said the doctor. His name was Dr. Scope, he was a grey unicorn with white hair and a black stethoscope for a cutie mark. Discord followed after him eagerly and worried.

"May I?" the unicorn gestured, to use his magic and levitate Fluttershy. Discord hesitated at first but then accepted. Fluttershy was hoisted above their heads and placed on a long cart, couch looking wheel chair like thing. She was gently set down atop it.

"So what happened?" the doc asked.

"She accidentally hit a storm cloud above the Everfree forest."

"Wait here," Dr. Scope told Discord. The Dr left with Fluttershy down the long hallway and into these two big doors. Discord sat on a chair that leaned against the hall.

As Discord waited, Rainbow came rushing in through the doors.

"Where is she?!" she pleaded Discord.

"In there," He said quietly while creating and arrow that pointed to the doors. Rainbow nodded and sat down on the chair beside Discord.

"What did you ask her?" he asked Rainbow.

"Huh?" she then realized, "Oh, I just told her that...umm," she hesitated.

"What?" he inquired her to continue.

"I told her that I thought you * _cough_ liked her and..." she was interrupted.

"She freaked out?"

"No, no, no. You see I asked her if she liked you back and she wouldn't tell me. I kept asking her and she just sorta flipped out and hit the storm cloud."  
Discord was speechless.

"You should've just left her alone. I mean, now she's in there probably having surgery done on her unless those unicorns are as damn powerful as all the Alicorns!" he took a deep breath.

"You really do care for her. Don't you?" Rainbow looked at him.

He said nothing.

"Then just back off. Cause despite the fact that you're reformed you're still evil on the inside and you know it so just stay away from her."  
Discord didn't expect that to come out of Rainbow's mouth but he decided not to care. He had other things to worry about.

They sat there for about 2 hours when Dr. Scope walked out the doors. Discord's head perked up and looked at the Doctor.

"She will be alright, but she took a lot of damage. If she hadn't taken that fall, she would probably be ok anyway but her body just took a real beating from the fall."  
Discord glared at Rainbow and back at the doctor.

"And she'll be ok?" Discord asked anxiously.

"Yes, but she'll have to stay here for a while."  
Discord nodded slowly.

"May I see her?"

"She might not be awake for a while."

"Please?" he asked again. The doctor nodded.

"Could I go too?" Rainbow asked and stood up.

"Only one pony at a time." Rainbow sat back down with a bit of a frown. Discord started waking towards Fluttershy's room when he made a face out of the back of his head to spit at Dash.

Discord slowly opened the doors to see Fluttershy with bandages and machinery all around her, she was also dressed in a green Hospital outfit. He felt a swelling in the bottom of his throat. There was light shining in through the window that landed upon her face. He knelt down by her bedside and brushed a strand of hair from her face. He put his muzzle to her and kissed her forehead. He wanted so badly to hold her in his arms again but didn't want to risk anything.

"You could've died, because of something that Rainbow Dash said. I almost lost you to the Everfree Forest, and I...I couldn't catch you when you were falling. If I had just caught you or came over when Rainbow was bothering you or...or even just gotten rid of the clouds myself. God, I should've just done that but I let myself be pushed around by a pegasus. I was so close to losing you...," he slowly brushed her hair with his paw, "I can't ever let that happen again. You keep getting hurt when I should be protecting you...it's not fair for you to take pain because I don't take precautions. Please forgive me?" he pleaded. He knew Fluttershy wasn't awake and that she probably couldn't hear him but he still felt he had to say it. He took a deep sigh.

"I...I just...I love you so much," he said it and truly meant it. He loved this pale yellow, pink haired, teal eyed pegasus and couldn't allow her to be hurt again. Discord had finally realized his feelings for her and and remembered the question Dash had asked her. _Do you like him back?_ Discord had now hoped the answer was yes.


	6. Chapter 6: Get Well

Discord's feelings for Fluttershy were real and he really hoped she felt the same way. He brushed her cheeks softly and just watched her in all the peace. After a while, he decided that he should leave her to rest. As he headed to the doors he took one last glance before he took off into the hall. If he had only stayed a few seconds more he would've heard her start twitching and mumbling. She tossed and her eyes opened for split 2 seconds except they were green with purple smoke. After that she just returned to her peaceful bed rest.

Discord walked towards the chairs in the hall where Rainbow and now Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie sat as well.

"How is she, what happened?" Applejack asked, concerned for her friend.

"She's fine and why don't you ask Rainbow," he gave Dash a stared that she would never forget. The doctor started walking towards them when a nurse tugged at him to look at something. The doctor rushed into a room that was behind Fluttershy's. Discord was wondering what happened.

After a while Dr. Scope came back out with pieces of paper.

"Discord you were just in there, yes?" the doc asked.

"Umm, yes. Why what happened?"

"Did you notice any change in her movement?"

"No."  
The doctor sighed.

"It must've happened after you left."

"What happened, please just explain this to me?!"

"Only about a minute after you left, her heart monitor changed."

"What does that mean?"  
Twilight came into the conversation.

"It means her heart rate changed, either her heart sped up or slowed down," Twilight concluded. Discord looked at the doctor.

"So, which is it?"

"Both...you see, first her heart rate got really high to 2 beats per 1 second and then it immediately decreased to 2 beats per 20 seconds. But the rate didn't slowly decrease, it just dropped within milliseconds."  
Discord stared at him, stunned.

"So...is she alright?" Discord asked.

"Currently yes, but look at this." He held out her Cardiac Monitor Readings on a rolled up piece of long paper. Discord studied it but only saw jagged lines, but as he looked carefully he realized her heart was steady and then it just went up and then immediately declined.

"May I see her again?" Discord asked.

"Can all of us see her?" Rarity budged. The doctor took a sigh.

"You may, but you MUST be quiet or I'll have you removed," he stated. They all nodded and walked to her room.

Pinkie Pie slowly nudged the door and made a soft gasp as did the others except Discord, for he had already seen her disapproving state. The 5 ponies walked to the left side of her bed, Discord went to the right.

"What happened Rainbow?" Applejack asked. Rainbow's ears flopped and her face went red.

"Umm...she hit a storm cloud in the Everfree forest and was electrocuted and fell through the trees and landed in Froggy Bottom Bog," said said quickly. Every pony just stared at her with wide eyes but Discord only gave her an evil glare.

"Hey you could've saved her, you just didn't try hard enough!" Rainbow yelled. Everyone shushed her.

"Quiet down Rainbow," Applejack said.

"What are you talking about? I did everything in my power to save her but it wouldn't work in those circumstances," he shot back at Dash.

"Well, if you had never come in the first place it never would have happened," she spoke in a lower tone now but still distraught. Discord just looked at her and wanted her to vanish from existence.

"Why were you with her anyway?" Dash asked.

"Yeah Discord, I don't think you told the truth back in the library," Twilight added.

"I said what I said and I meant it," he made a claw out of his tail and crossed the talons, he had to keep lying a little longer.

"Then why did I get a letter from Princess Celestia about your whereabouts? She said that you just cancelled your meeting with her for no reason at all!" she said in a low but aggressive voice.

"Maybe I just wanted a break Twilight," he glared, he seemed to be doing so a lot today.

"Then why did you lie?!"

"I did not lie," he emphasized each word.

"You told me that you were just walking around and that you were bored. If you were so bored then why didn't you just got to the meeting like you were supposed to?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because one of my best friends is in pain and is keeping something from me, from all of us, and you know. So just tell us!"

"No," was all he said. He vanished, along with Fluttershy, the bed and the mechanical machinery. Every pony gasped.

"Ok. Thats it, he is going back to stone!" Rarity demanded. All of them nodded except Twilight.

"We can't do that without Fluttershy, and maybe we were too, I was too..."

"Twilight. Discord is keeping secrets, lying, and he practically just kidnapped our best friend! He deserves it!" Rainbow yelped, now being able to higher her voice. Twilight took a deep breath.

"I suppose you're right, but we need Fluttershy to turn him back anyway. And I don't think she would jump at the idea."

"Oh...right. Well lets just go bang the heck outta his door!"

"Yeah!" they all shouted, almost giggling.

Back at Discord's house he put Fluttershy in the room he decorated for her the other day. He smiled remembering how she climbed into his bed with him.  
She was resting and Discord was thinking about how she would react as to being transported away from the hospital and her friends. He had to tell her eventually.  
Discord just watched her rest ever so peacefully until loud knocks came from his door.

He went to the peep hole to see Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack. This didn't really surprise him, he expected them to be mad but he didn't have the energy to care too much.

"DISCORD! You get your Serpent Tail out here now!" Pinkie screeched. All of a sudden his tail was in front of them but the rest of him wasn't, he smirked.

"And the rest of ya," Applejack continued. Finally, all of him, came out but he wasn't letting them in.

"Yes ladies?" He asked.

"What did you do with Fluttershy you chaotic creature?" Rarity huffed.

"You seriously think I harmed her? She's fine and resting so why don't you all come back later, hmm?"

"You can't keep her in there forever!" Pinkie jerked.

"I never intended too."

"If you don't bring her to the hospital now, you are going back to stone!" Rainbow threatened.

"What is wrong with you ponies, you just go around threatening ponies into getting your way. You actually believe I'm evil?"

"YES!" they all shouted.

"Seriously? I have one secret, thats not even any of your business, and you just accuse me of being evil? Aren't I allowed to have some privacy, same goes for Flutters?"  
They all stared at each other, dumbfounded.

"But you took her!" Rainbow pointed.

"Well, um...yes I guess so. Sorry bout that but you ponies are just too loud and wouldn't drop the subject. So I brought her here."

"You can't just take ponies away from the hospital Discord. What about the doctors, they're the only ones who know all the procedures," Twilight stated.

"If something goes wrong I'll just teleport us back to the hospital," he said with a grin. All 5 of the ponies eyed him with suspicion.

"If something happens to her, I swear I'm gonna...," Rainbow threatened, but was interrupted.

"Quite the hypocrite aren't you Rainbow, seeing as how this is YOUR fault," he accused.

"We have already had this discussion and it was not my fault!"

"Oh really, aren't you the one who said," his head transformed to look like Dash, "Ugh this is all my fault. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He concluded with his face back to normal.

"I was in a state of anger and pain, I could've said anything. I know I said it but it's not true, your the one who confronted me!"

"But you were the one who decided to pester her!"

"Will you two stop arguing! Fluttershy can probably hear y'all from all the way inside," said Applejack. Discord just crossed his arms and sighed.

"You can all go now," he spoke in a low and almost scary tone.

"Fine, but we'll be back in the morning," Twilight said calmly.

"But..." Rainbow started.

"Come on Rainbow," Applejack urged.

"Ugh, fine."  
Once the left, Discord went back inside.

He heard a loud thud from Fluttershy's room.


	7. Chapter 7: His Confession

Discord ran towards Fluttershy's room. When he rushed the door open what he saw was horrific.  
Fluttershy's eyes were wide open with red pupils clouded in green and were smoked by purple and her coat and mane were drained of colour. There was some blood on the floor because she had fallen out of bed and some of her medical care was damaged.

"No, stop. Never. Why are you doing this?" she murmured. It was as if there was invisible force that was talking to her and apparently moving toward her because she started backing up against her bed, that she had fumbled out off. Her flank was against the side of the bed board and she was crouching down, her eyes still enchanted.

"Please! No...Don't touch me!" she was terrified. Discord finally rushed over to her side.

"Fluttershy! Look at me, you're hallucinating or...just having a nightmare. Wake up!" he shook. His paw was on her shoulder and his claw on the top of her head.

"No, no, no. Get away!" she didn't believe it was Discord.

"Fluttershy listen to me. Follow my voice, it's Discord and I'm real. I'm here don't worry," he kept repeating, "I'm here, it's Discord."

"No...no...no," she grew calmer and her eyes started to fade back to normal.

"Come back to me," tears puddled in his eyes. He had never cried so much for a pony in such a short amount of time, or any pony for that matter. She blinked a few times before her eyes were true once again, but once they did she fell back asleep and collapsed into Discord's arms. Her mane and coat had returned to their natural colour and her eyes were now closed, but blood still came from her. Discord knew she was still alive cause he cold hear her heartbeat. He took a deep breath.  
He used his magic to repair the bandages onto her body, he wished so deeply to heal her.

"What is going on?" he whispered to himself.

She was now back in her bed and tucked in, with the heart monitor attached to her chest. Discord left a lamp on and went to the kitchen for Chocolate Milk, well aware he could make it appear himself but he needed to be occupied. As he sat on the couch with his drink he couldn't help but fear for Fluttershy's safety.

"Discord?" he heard a faint call. He materialized by her bed side.

"You're awake, are you alright?"

"Umm, judging by the way I look and this equipment I'd have to say no," she smiled.

"Right...that. But do you remember anything unusual?"

"No."

"Huh, I see."

"How did I get here?" she asked. Her voice made him lose any tension he had before. He hadn't heard her speak in such a calm tone for so long it seemed.

"Thats a long story," he replied.

"I have time." She smiled at him and Discord sat down beside her.

"Well ,what do you remember last?" he asked her.

"When I was talking to...Dash," she blushed a bit.

"What?" he looked at her, curious but knew what she was referring too.

"Nothing, anyway. Just go."

"Ok, well. When you were talking to Rainbow, you got really upset about...the question she asked you," he answered. Her eyes widened and she blushed.

"Oh, umm. What did she ask me again?" Fluttersy remembered all too well what Dash had asked her but wondered if Discord truly knew.

"She just asked you if umm...," he started sweating, what should he say? He knew the answer but grew frightened.

"Umm..." he couldn't seem to answered her question.

"Shh, it's alright. I know," she admitted, not wanting to make Discord uncomfortable. He nodded.

"Ok, and when she asked you, you got mad and hit the storm cloud you were pushing around. You were electrocuted and fell through the Everfree. And I'm...I'm so sorry," he bowed his head in shame.

"What are you talking about? Discord, you have nothing to apologize for."

"I should've tried harder, you might have been spared the bruises and cuts on your body if I had just tried harder," he said, angry at himself.

"Discord," Fluttershy put a hood to his paw, "I'm ok. This is NOT your fault!" she softly emphasized. She looked at him straight in the eye.

"Ok?" she asked. He turned away.

"I can't lie to you Fluttershy. No matter what you say, I will still blame myself. I don't need any pity, I just need you to say that you forgive me."

"Discord..."

"Please," he pleaded. She sighed.

"This is not your doing and even if it had, and because you're so sure it is, of course I forgive you."

"Good. Now after your fall, you sank into Froggy Bottom Bog where I found you and dragged you out to the land. I brought you to a hospital and they took care of you. Then...," he paused, "your heart rate changed, after I visited you. It went really high and dropped low, something happened but I don't, nor do the doctors, know what is was." This scared Fluttershy, her pupils went small.

"After that, your friends and I visited you and we got into a bit of an argument."

"What _kind_ of argument?" she asked slyly.

"They asked me why I was with you and what we were hiding from them, I simply told them that it was none of their business but they kept pestering. I had finally had enough and materialized us both here. Your friends were here about half an hour ago threatening to turn me to stone if I didn't put you back. Then when they left I heard a crash in your room and I saw you..." his face froze at the horrid memory.

"What did you see?" she looked nervous and blank of an expression.

"You had changed. Your eyes were smoked, there was blood on the carpet cause you had left the securities of your medical equipment and you were drained of colour."  
Fluttershy stared, shocked.

"You were yelling at something. I don't know if you were imagining it or there was actually some invisible force in your room, but you were terrified. I eased you back to sanity and put you to bed. Now, here we are." He finished.

"Wow," she exclaimed.

"Yeah," he said.

"And you have no clue who I could've been imagining or talking to?"  
He thought about it.

"Well...remember when you saw that duplicate of you?"

"How could I forget," she shivered.

"What did you say she looked like?"

"Her pupils were red, behind the pupils was green, purple smoke came out of them and she was void of colour or life. But she was alive," she looked down, afraid.

"Thats what you looked like."  
A look of pure terror ran across Fluttershy's face.

"Since we've seen you like that more than once, I think it's safe to say that thats the form you will take sooner or later. Whatever keeps coming back, whatever happens to you. That _thing_ will turn you into the pegasus I saw a few minutes ago," he told her. He wished it weren't true and hoped that it would never come to pass but it seemed there was nothing he could do to stop it.  
The yellow pegasus started weeping. Discord pulled her close, making sure she didn't detach from the cords.

"It's ok, I'm here. For now and for as long as you live, I will do my best to protect, save and rescue you from any danger or harm," he told her, it wasn't just to comfort her but he made a promise to himself that that was exactly what he was going to do. Fluttershy found comfort and security in Discord's embrace. She smiled at him.

"Why do you care about me so much? I haven't done anything for you, I mean I'm just your less than average pegasus," she chuckled.

"You have done so much for me, I don't know what you're talking about. You are the only pony to ever show me kindness or friendship. Because of you I have a home, I'm now good and capable to care for other ponies, including you. You may not be the fastest flyer, or the strongest pony, or the bravest but you are the Element of Kindness and that makes you important to the rest of Equestria and especially me. And when you say you're just my less than average pegasus, I know you don't mean ownership," he smiled, "but I hope you know that you will always have a place in my heart which gives me the right to call you _my_ more than average pegasus," he finished his confession.


	8. Chapter 8: Emotions

Fluttershy just stared at him.

"Wow, I...I never knew you felt that way," she said in a bit of shock but also happiness. A blush escaped her face, she hoped he couldn't see it, but he could.  
He wanted so badly to kiss her but felt that it wasn't the right moment and the fact that she needed medical care didn't help either.

"Huh, yeah. Sorry if that was too sappy-"

"No, no. I thought it was really sweet."  
Discord scratched the back of his head and smiled.

"Can I ask you something?" Fluttershy questioned.

"Yeah, what is it?" he wondered.

"Why did Rainbow ask me that question?"

"Umm, what-"

"Discord, I know that you know what it is, but why did she ask me? Did you do something?"

"No, I mean not really. I just told her how it was a terrible idea for you to be handling a storm cloud, it's not that I didn't think you'd be careful but I was just worried. And from the looks of it I had the right to do so. When I approached her about your well being she accused me of having...deeper feelings for you than just friendship. Thats probably why she asked you that question." He bowed his head and Fluttershy put a hoof to his face.

"Discord-" she started.

"Wait, I need to get this off my chest. After everything that happened the day before, I've just been very...protective of you. It's the fact that you _are_ so careful and gentile that it could get you in danger, you aren't exactly very defense-full of yourself. I hope it doesn't sound like I don't trust you, but you are so sweet, caring, kind and even vulnerable that it scares me." Fluttershy just stared at him, listening intently. No pony had ever spoken to her this way, not her parents or even her friends. It seemed Discord had a long list, a speech even, of things he had to tell her.

"I can't lose you Fluttershy," he stared into her glistening eyes, "not now, not ever. No matter what happens you have to be ok, you have to be alright, you have to be safe and you have to stay here, with me where I know you're safe." Tears puddled in his eyes.

"Discord," touched by his words, "I will never leave you, although I can't live here for the rest of my life and I can't promise my safety, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to stay. I promise."

"You can't promise-"

"I promise to try," she gave a sentimental smile that made Discord loosen up a bit. He sighed, realizing what time it was.

"You should probably be getting some sleep." He got up and started to walk away.

"Wait," she said. He turned to look back at her.

"Could you, umm stay for a bit. I mean could you just maybe lay...down...with...me?" she asked nervously. He nodded shyly and climbed in beside her, careful no to mess up the wires. Fluttershy felt secure and was able to be calm. She always knew she was safe around Discord, him having powerful magic and all, and now she knew his whole story. She never truly knew how he felt about her until now and it felt nice to know he cared, a lot it seemed.

* * *

When Fluttershy woke, Discord's arms were over and under her pulling her against his chest. She felt so warm and kind of giddy for some reason. She loved being enwrapped in his embrace and took this opportunity to nuzzle his fur and accept the warm gesture.  
Discord was partly awake and felt the shy pegasus burying into his fur, he smiled and hugged her tighter but not too tight. Her head was underneath his chin, taking notice of this, Discord rested is chin softly upon her soft pink mane and enjoyed it. They were both smiling, not knowing that the other one was but they both seemed intertwined as one. Everything was peaceful until they noticed the 5 mares standing in the doorway. They cleared their throats as if to cough and sat up in bed with one of Discord's arms still linked to Fluttershy's back. The 5 were all standing there with large eyes, gawking expressions and wide mouths.  
Rainbow flew over to them and tried to nudge Discord away.

"Hey creepy, get off her. She's in medical condition," Rainbow gaffed.

"Wonder who's fault that mostly is," he muttered, "and have you ponies ever heard of knocking? It's something that you do called 'manners'."

"Well good thing we didn't. Cause then we wouldn't have caught you molesting poor old Flutters over there," Dash pointed to the nervous and blushing Fluttershy.

"Hey...girls. How's it going?" she asked, trying to be casual.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing, twice now," Rainbow eyed Discord with a glare.

"We were just talking last night and...umm, I guess he fell asleep," she lied, poorly so.

"Ah huh, then why were you guys so _close_?" Pinkie peered.

"Uhh-" Discord began.

"I had a nightmare, and Discord comforted me," she gave a fake smile.

"I see," Rarity inquired.

"Anyway _cough*_ what are you girls doing here?" Fluttershy asked.

"He didn't tell you? Oh, right. I forgot he doesn't tell any pony ANYTHING," Dash raised her voice, remembering the secret the two shared. Fluttershy looked up at Discord.

"Rainbow, don't be so hard on him," Fluttershy turned and scolded, "I told him not to tell you guys, so if you should yell at any pony then yell at me," she stated.

"Ok fine. Why-," she started.

"You know, maybe yelling at the pony who fell a few hundred feet into the forest, isn't such a good idea," Discord stepped in.

"Well if you guys wouldn't mind giving up the charade, we would like to know," Twilight said calmly. They both turned to look at each other.

"Can you girls give us a minute," they stared at her,"please?"

"Come on y'all, give em some privacy," Applejack nudged. Rainbow didn't like to the idea of them being alone together. Once the 5 had left and closed the door, Discord turned to Fluttershy.

"Should we tell them?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Pinkie would freak out, Rarity would faint, Rainbow would yell, probably at you, Applejack would try to comfort me and Twilight would start doing research. Applejack would probably take it the best but the others would just...I don't know, just freak out."  
Discord nodded, still in thought.

"I think we should tell them. As much as I don't trust them, we really need to figure out what's going on."  
Fluttershy sighed and nodded. Discord snapped his fingers to bring them back into the room.

"You know we can literally just walk into the room," Twilight said.

"So you gonna tell us what's going on?" Rainbow pushed. Discord and Fluttershy nodded. Discord told them of all the times he had seen Fluttershy change. There was no interruptions, the 5 just listened intently.

"-and then she woke up," finisihed, knowing that was the whole story. The 5 mares stared with wide eyes and all of them rushed to Fluttershy except Rainbow.

"And you did nothing to save her? Can't your magic do stuff like that?" Rainbow accused. Fluttershy turned in her direction.

"Rainbow! Leave him alone!"

"What did you do to her? She is like a totally different pony now, why is all this happening?" Rainbow demanded. Discord just glared at her with a scowl.

"What are you insinuating?" he gritted.

"That you put some spell on her! You're doing all this to her just so she won't trust us anymore and seek comfort in you just because you were there!" Rainbow was talking fast but Discord's heart rate was faster.

"Rainbow Dash! I am fine, Discord has done nothing to me-."

"Of course you'd say that! It's just the magic and-."

"Rainbow I want you to leave," Fluttershy demanded.

"You can't just-."

"Now!"

"No I still-."  
Fluttershy turned to Discord and nodded. Pleasurably he snapped his claws and Rainbow was suddenly standing outside of his house.

"I would like all of you to leave, please," Fluttershy told her friends.

"But..." Pinkie started.

"Come on sugar cube."

Once they had all officially left his house Fluttershy leapt up and hugged Discord by surprise.

"Don't listen to her, you are not evil and I know that. Deep within my heart I know it and she will too, eventually."

"Fluttershy...I," he couldn't finish. She put her head into his fur and a tear trickled down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry. I do't know why she's so...so ugh," a tear trickled down.

"It's alright, as long as you know."

"And I do, and I always will."

"Fluttershy I...what's that?"


	9. Chapter 9: Calm Down Rainbow

Discord stared down Fluttershy's medical shirt, not meaning to be inappropriate, because he notice something around her neck. Fluttershy didn't know what he was looking down at but she blushed anyway, even though ponies don't usually wear clothes. However she stopped smiling when she saw the frown spread across the Draconequus' face.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Have you been wearing that this whole time?"

"Wha...," she stopped as she realized what Discord had been talking about. Around her neck was a black chained necklace with a red crystal, looking, heart.

"I...I didn't even notice," she said surprised. She tried to take it off but when she touched it, a source of dark magic halted her hoof.

"What?" she said, shocked.

"Let me try." Discord began to put his claw to her necklace but once it came within a cm of the necklace, another spell of magic was cast. The necklace protected itself but hurt Fluttershy in the process.

"Ouch!" she yelped. Discord stared at her, wondering.

"What is it?"

"When you touched it, it...it hurt me. I don't know how and it wasn't an aching pain just sort of a small prick."  
Discord felt bad but was curious.

Little did they notice the blue pegasus watching outside the window.

"Let me try my magic," he raised his paw.

"Wait," she gripped his paw, "...be careful."  
He nodded and put his claw to her cheek.

"Always," he smiled at her and she let out a small grin. Discord snapped his paw, trying a gentile spell on the necklace. Once he snapped, he waited but nothing happened except Fluttershy's small grunt.

"Uhh," she exclaimed in an amount of pain. Discord's eyes widened.

He heard a snap in the branches outside and turned his head only to find nothing there, he ignored it.

"I'm so sorry," he clutched her hoof.

"No, ugh, it's alright. It's not that bad," she forced a smile while tears pricked her eyes. Fluttershy saw the horrified look in his eyes and felt sorry for causing him pain, mentally.

"Discord, I swear I'm alright."

"Don't you understand? You're not alright, you've had an enchantment put on you that we can't get rid of and some creep is stalking you and by the looks of it it's not because he's fond of you."  
She had a confused look on her face, Discord rolled his eyes and explained.

"Usually when some pony is being stalked it's because the pony that's following them has some sort of crush on them, but since he has done nothing but harm you it doesn't look that way," he huffed, frustrated, confused, sad and angry. Fluttershy didn't know what to say.

"Discord. It _is_ going to be ok, I don't know how but for now it is. Lets enjoy that 'now'," she said trying to comfort him. Her eyes slowly closed to relax, he brushed some of the pink hair out of her face and said it.

"I love you Fluttershy."  
She slowly opened her eyes to meet his, a small smile escaped her lips along with a tiny chuckle.

"I know," she said as she nuzzled into his fur, after that she stood on her hind legs and hugged him, tight, as a tear fell from her eyes. Discord was content and relieved, he returned the embrace immediately.

 _I love you too,_ she thought but could say it aloud, nervous so she just whispered it. Her voice was too quiet for Discord's ears but as those small and quiet words escaped her lips a swirl of yellow and sparkly magic spun around her. Her pink hair was lifted high as her body stayed low, she could fell the magic and was curious but wanted to stay in his arms. The magic continued to flow through her and they both could feel it. Once the magic stopped and her hair obeyed gravity she slowly looked down and was shocked. To Fluttershy's surprise, her entire body was uninjured.

"Discord," she said with an amazed expression.

"Yeah?"

"Look," she pointed. Discord looked down to see Fluttershy's bandages gone. She tried flexing everything and felt totally fine.

"But...how, why?" Fluttershy kept asking. She turned to Discord.

"I thought you said something about not being able to do that stuff?" she asked.

"That's what I thought, this has never happened before," he exclaimed. They both had a wowed expression across their face. Fluttershy took a deep breath and looked around the colourfully decorated room with the flower print wallpaper that reminded her of her garden.

"Discord!" she turned to his face, "I have to attend my animals."

"Oh, right," he was about to snap his fingers when he remembered something.

"What?" she asked.

"I have another meeting with Princess Sunny," he joked at her real name.

"Just teleport me there and then go to your meeting-,"

"But-"

"Discord I'm fine now, it's just my wings which I don't use very often anyway. It'll be ok."  
He nodded and then snapped his fingers.

When Fluttershy arrived in her garden it was too bright for her eyes, being in a dim lit room all morning. Her medical shirt was removed as well.

"Thank you Discord."

"Your welcome," she started to turn to her cottage,"Fluttershy?" she turned her head to face him, "be safe." She nodded. Immediately, Discord materialized to Canterlot Castle.  
Fluttershy was alone, except for the many animals around her. She opened the door and saw all of her indoor pets. They all ran towards her, especially Angel. Fluttershy tumbled to the floor giggling and smiling.

"Goodness, I missed you guys too." Angel hopped towards her necklace and pointed it out, Fluttershy hovered her hoof over it.

"No, don't touch that," she said sternly but fair. Angel bunny just shrugged what shoulders a bunny had.

"Who's hungry?" she asked and they all started jumping and talking, in their own languages. Grinning, Fluttershy walked over to the cupboard and started finding the pet food. She didn't notice the knock at the door and neither did the animals. There was another knock, louder, that she did hear.

"Hello?" she asked cautiously. There was no answer but she walked over to the door. She slowly opened it to see the rainbow maned pegasus standing there.

"Rainbow? What are you doing here?"

"Is Discord around?" she asked quickly.

"Umm, no but what is this-," Rainbow rushed inside her cottage.

"Ok then, please come in I guess."  
She shut the door and look strangely at Rainbow.

"You look better," she said suspiciously. Fluttershy just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, thanks. What can I do for you?"

"Look into my eyes," she demanded. Fluttershy had o idea where she was going with this but cooperated anyway.

"Umm, ok."  
Rainbow stared into her teal eyes.

"Damn, thats a good spell," Rainbow said while backing away.

"What are you talking about?"

"I _saw_ him use his magic on you!"

"What?!"

"I saw the two of you on that bed, he put that necklace on you," she pointed to Fluttershy's neck.

"No Dash, it's not what you think it's-."

"Fluttershy, you're blind to what is really going on! Don't you see he's trying to use you against us?"

"Rainbow it-."

"No listen to me, just take it off."

"I can't, it's-."

"Just take it off!" Rainbow tried to reach for the necklace.

"Rainbow be careful, you could-."

"Just let me take it off, it'll break the enchantment!" she reached once again.

"No, stop! You need to listen to me, you can't just-."  
But it was too late, Rainbow threw her hoof towards the necklace with a loud grunt. The necklace remained untouched and protected, but Fluttershy didn't. She let out a scream of pain and fell to the hardwood floor of her cottage with large sobs.

"Ra..in..bo...oow," she choked on her breath and cries. Rainbow was unharmed and stared, unforgivingly at the weeping pegasus. She had harmed her friend once again, all she could think about now was how this was Discord's fault. Distraught and not knowing what to do, Rainbow selfishly left Fluttershy on the ground, to have a picking with Discord. She flew fast towards Canterlot, still not thinking of Fluttershy's well being.


	10. Chapter 10: It's Getting Complicated

BTW I made some changes to the previous chapter so if this chapter doesn't make a lot of sense at some parts, just review the previous chapter.

* * *

Rainbow flew as fast as she could. Something had come over her the past days, she wasn't herself and seemed to be blaming Discord for everything and anything. She even left Fluttershy hurt and sobbing on the floor of her cottage. She did care for Fluttershy, she was one of her best friends, but she seemed to care more about revealing Discord's, supposed, true evil nature.

Canterlot was getting close, she sped up.  
Discord was in a meeting with Celestia, Luna and some other important rulers across Equestria. When Rainbow arrived she realized she couldn't just intrude on an important meeting, not to mention perhaps embarrass herself in front of Royalty. She would wait for them to take a break.

(45 min later): she actually waited that long.

Discord stepped out of the conference room towards the Canterlot Gardens, that was what he was planning anyway. He was halted by a raging and accusing pegasus.

"You!" she pointed her hoof.

"Rainbow? What are you doing here, shouldn't you be boasting right now?" he commented as he looked at is wrist, imagining a watch.

"You think you're so funny, you think you have every pony fooled, well not me Discord. I saw you two in the bedroom, you hurt her while putting an enchantment on her in the process so we can't touch her! An-"

"Wait, what?" his eyes widened in curiosity and a bit of fear.

"That stupid necklace you put on her. Every time someone tries to remove it or touch it, something bad happens. You want her to fear every pony and find comfort in your evil lies. You-"

"How do you know about the necklace, more importantly how it works!?" he was worried now, he didn't even bother explaining how he didn't put it there.

"I tried to take it off but she wouldn't let me and now here I am," she left out the rest of the story.

"What did you do?" Discord raised his tone.

"Nothing, she's probably fine by now anyway. Now come clean, did you or didn't you cast a spell on her?!"  
Discord's eyes burned and glowed.

"I would never hurt her, I would never put her under a spell and I would never turn her against you again!" he glared.

"LIAR!" she shot back.

"I am telling nothing but the truth, ask Applejack."

"Lies, they're all lies!"

"Why are you so convinced they are?!"

"Because that's the only way she could ever even like you!," she said, "This has to be the only way she can care for you, she is the Element of Kindness and you are the Lord of Chaos. Fluttershy has never been in love, never kept secrets and barely had romantic feelings for any pony. So you casting a spell on her is the only valid explanation for her returning your care," she poured out.

Discord was speechless.

"What you want to think is ok as long as you don't show it aloud, but it seems you care more about being right than your friend's happiness cause I assure you that hurting that pony is the last thing I would ever want to do." He took a deep breath remembering the start of their conversation. In a panic he disappeared.  
Rainbow stood there with her thoughts, she considered the fact he could be telling the truth and if that were the case, that she was a jerk.

In her confusion she just flew back to Ponyville.

* * *

Discord appeared in Fluttershy's cottage but couldn't see her anywhere, which was strange because his magic was supposed to take him right to her.

"Fluttershy!" he heard no reply. His heart was in his throat and he felt a shiver go up his spine and then something else. He felt something that he had felt a few times and new well, evil. He could sense a terrible presence which only made his situation worse.

He then look to a small corner where the yellow pegasus lay on her side where her back faced him, she looked dead cold and faint. Over top of her was a dark shadow that seemed to be sucking the life out of her, every time the shadow moved it seemed to take a bit of her with it.  
Discord ran to her side and tried to touch her but the shadow was like a rubber forcefield that left her inside a giant bubble. Discod began pounding on it.

"Fluttershy!" her eyes slowly flittered but it wasn't enough. Discord stopped hitting the forcefield and instead calmly placed his claw and paw atop it.

"Fluttershy, if you can hear me in any way I need you to fight this. You need to use your goodness, kindness, hopeful and loving nature. I need you to hear this, I'm sorry I left you. You mean the world to me in every way and I can't lose you. Please, feel how I feel about you and take my paw," he slowly pressed deeper, the black shadow turned gold and wasn't resisting his touch. As he got further, he could finally touch her and feel her soft fur. Soon the 'bubble' popped.

He carefully turned her over to see she was bruised, scratched and had a small amount of blood on her, her wing also looked a bit twisted. Her cheeks were red from what he assumed was crying, which appeared she had done a lot of. Despite the small injuries, Discord looked down, horrified. She was unconscious. He slowly pulled her close, avoiding contact with the necklace. He then noticed something, her cutie mark was gone, he had no idea what to do. He figured he would just talk to Twilight later or something. He decided to stabilize her wings to get his mind of that, not that it was much better.

He put a bandage on her wing making sure to do it right, after that fed her animals.

He sat on her floor and watched her peacefully until something unusual happened. Her coat turned dark and her eyes opened but had the red pupil, the green glaze and purple smoke. An evil grin passed her face as she slowly stood up.

"You can't save her, she is mine. Don't waste your time on something you can't have. She will never love you for she doesn't have enough time left, better hurry so the pain will be quick," the voice came from Fluttershy but it was not her own, this voice sounded grim and dark. After the words were spoken, the eyes faded to normal as did her coat colour but as her appearances went back to normal so did her strength. Fluttershy, the true genuine Fluttershy, collapsed beneath her feet.  
Discord quickly caught her, knowing it was over but was still frightened.

Discord needed to relax but wanted to keep and eye on Fluttershy. He materialized them both to her bedroom and tucked her in on one side then climbing in on the other. He used his magic to pull the blinds so it was dark but kept her nightlight on in case she woke up.

Discord was asleep when Fluttershy awoke with a pain in her wing, yet it was durable. She remembered why she had that pain, _Rainbow._ She turned to her left, surprised to see Discord by her side but didn't mind. She just lay back, realizing how fast her life had changed in the span of only a few days. She had no memory of what had happened in her living room but felt that if Discord was here it must've been bad.

 _Knock Knock_

Fluttershy heard a knock at her door downstairs. She carefully and quietly walked down her stairs to the door, she opened it to be blinded by light and to see Twilight looking frantic.

"Princess Celestia wants to see us right away!" Twilight alerted Fluttershy.

"Right now!?"

"Yes! Now lets go," Twilight said frantically.

"Ok, I'm coming." Fluttershy shut the door behind her, concerned if Discord might worry but figured he'd be alright.

The mane 6 got aboard the train, it was quite awkward between Fluttershy and the others especially Rainbow Dash. Rainbow walked to Fluttershy's seat.

"Hey," Rainbow said trying to start conversation.

"Hi," Fluttershy replied still looking out the window.

"You ok? I...I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt to."

"I know, and I'm fine. But Dash," she now faced her directly, "you are hurting Discord."

"But if it is just a trick an-"

"Rainbow, he has changed. I don't know why you deny the fact that I might actually have feelings for him, just leave him alone. We're both going through enough."  
Rainbow slightly nodded and moved back to her seat.

When they arrived at Canterlot Palace, Celestia was eagerly waiting for them in the throne room. They burst through the doors.

"What is it Princess?" Twilight asked intensely.

"It's Cadence, she and Shining Armour and having a problem in the Crystal Empire."

"What kind of problem?" Applejack asked curiously. Celestia sighed.

"Sombra's back, and we need you girls to use your power to defeat him."


	11. Chapter 11: The Crystal Empire

Fluttershy stared at the Princess and repeated those words in her head. _Sombra's back. Sombra's back. How is that possible?_

"Umm, excuse me Princess but how is that possible?" she asked quietly.

"I'll explain that in a moment but first, Fluttershy where did you get that necklace?"

"Oh, I umm just woke up and it was sorta there."

"I see, I'll check more with you on that later but first I think you girls need some insight. Once the Crystal Empire was complete, the power it contained forced it to expand throughout the icy North but it seems it grew to the point where it found King Sombra's remains, his soul and dark magic. That released him. Cadance and Shining Armour along with the citizens are hiding out in the palace, while Cadance is using her magic to create a barrier surrounding it. It is of upmost importance that you return quickly. I have full faith that you will succeed, Twilight?" she face her prized pupil,"do you remember the spell to enact the element inside each of you?"

"Yes, we won't let you down Princess," she stood tall, proud.

"I know you won't. Now go, Cadence can't protect the Castle forever." And with those last words, Twilight and her friends trotted out the throne room. They were all feeling confident, all except Fluttershy. The words she heard a few days ago still haunted her.

 _"_ _Don't go to the Cry...the Crys. Don't listen to him." Could she have been talking about the Crystal Empire? I shouldn't go on this mission, but what about the Empire? They won't be able to defeat him without me, I have to go. What about Discord, he won't know where I've gone and will probably worry? He can alway just use his magic to find me right? Everything will be fine._

The six of them arrived at the train station and got a train to the Crystal Empire. As they waited at the train station, her friends decided to ask her some questions.

"How ya feeling sugarcube?"

"Alright I guess, despite all the visions and nightmares," she forced a smile, for Applejack's sake,"I think I'm alright."

"Darling, I can't believe how calm you seem through all this." Rarity added.

"Umm, yeah. I'm not really worried," she lied.

"Really?" Pinkie inquired.

"Umm, yeah sure. I mean, why would we fail? We have the magic of friendship," she added to the lie.

"By the way, how did ya get fixed, I mean I don't see any cuts or bruises?" Applejack asked, wondering how she hadn't noticed before. Fluttershy hesitated, wondering if she should tell them how Discord confessed his true feelings and how he found the power to heal her.

"Umm, Discord found a spell?" she thought of it as more of a question, wondering if they would buy it.

"So that guy really could've fixed you," Rainbow glared. Fluttershy shot her a look of dismay.

"Sorry," she threw her upper hooves in the air as she hovered above the ground. _She needs to understand that he's changed, she can't keep accusing him._

"What spell did he use?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, umm...he didn't tell me."

"I'll have to ask him, it could be really useful in case some pony took a bad injury."

"Huh, yeah..." she faked a small laugh and went quiet.

The pink train pulled in.

"Come on every pony," Twilight cheered as they all got on the train. There was only seven ponies on the train, the main six and the conductor.

"Looks like no pony is eager to be a slave to King Sombra," Rainbow joked, poorly. Fluttershy, unnoticeably, looking up at Rainbow through her pink hair while staring down at her hooves.

She was scared, terribly. She wondered what would happen and if this is what her visions were about and what the necklace was. The last thing she wanted was to be a slave to King Sombra, she knew her friends wouldn't let that happen though. Neither would Discord. She missed him, she wished he was there beside her and even thought about calling him but felt that would be selfish. Surely, he had better things to do than protect her every second. What she didn't know is that he didn't, she was what mattered most to him and he would do everything and anything in his power to keep her safe.

Rainbow eyed Fluttershy from across the train, wondering what she was thinking about. Rainbow didn't want to be suspicious of Discord but everything that happened just seemed to point to him, in her mind anyway. She thought he was still evil no matter how much Flutershy denied it. She would try not to make any accusations but would keep an eye on him, whenever she saw him however.

The train approached the Crystal Empire and Fluttershy's nerves only grew.  
"Y'all ready?"

"Oh yeah," Rainbow said making kung-fu motions.

"Yeees!" Pinkie shouted.

"Let's do it," Rarity nodded.

"Let's go, come on every pony!" Twilight cried.

"Umm, yeah," Fluttershy squeaked, no pony even heard her.

They stepped off the train and into a dimming blizzard, just like the first time they came here. The light of day would soon no longer be with them, Twilight illuminated her horn along with Rarity. They trudged carefully towards the somewhat crystally Empire. It didn't look as bright as before. While they made their way to the Palace, Discord was still in Fluttershy's cottage.

* * *

Discord lay asleep in her bed, unknowing of her journey.

"Discord help!" Fluttershy screamed.

"I can't, I'm trying!"

"Ha, you fool. There is nothing you can do," the shadow smirked. But as the shadow stepped into the light towards Fluttershy, Discord could see perfectly who this villain was.  
He crept evilly towards the detained and horrified Fluttershy.

"No, stop! Don't touch her, get your filthy hooves off her!" Discord screamed but his yells made no difference.

"STOP!" Discord awoke from his nightmare, sweating and wide awake. He turned to his right, where he expected to see Fluttershy, but didn't. This worried him.

"Fluttershy?"

* * *

They had finally gotten to the entrance of the Crystal Empire where they could see a dark fog looming towards it and trying to get into the palace.

"Come on girls!" Twilight said. They all ran as fast as they could towards the palace. They crossed through the barrier, only ponies with good intentions and a pure heart could pass through.

They climbed the stairs to the Throne Room and saw Cadance and Shining Armour sitting on a pinkish red carpet. Shining was trying to comfort his wife.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked.

"Twily, you're here." He rushed over to hug his sister.

"The Crystal Ponies are in the gym, it's the biggest room in the castle," he told her.

"It's so good to see you, but we have to stop seeing each other this way," Cadance used her strength to make a joke and welcome her sister in law.

"You too. Is any pony hurt?" Twilight asked.

"No, but they've all lost their Crystal spirit and I think it's too late for a fair," Shining Armour pointed out.

"What about the Crystal Heart?" Rarity asked.

"When we first saw him, thats what we attempted first but for some reason it didn't seem to work."

"Well, don't ya fret. We'll clean up this mess in a jiffy."

"I hope so," Shining said.

"Come on, let's go kick some sombrero," Pinkie jumped.

"Good luck, I don't know how long I can keep this up for," Cadance applied.

"Don't worry your majesty, he'll be gone before you know it," Rainbow confirmed. Cadance nodded, hopeful.

They all stepped outside where they were still safe in the barrier. They looked in all directions for any sign of him.

"Remember girls, he could be anywhere," Twilight said softly. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw his shadow.

"There," she pointed. They all walked cautiously towards it.  
Fluttershy was terrified.

They all came closer until they were right in front of his looming patch of darkness. Then Fluttershy noticed something she hadn't before and felt stupid for not realizing it. As she looked closely at this shadow she could see a pair of eyes staring at her, watching her. These eyes had red pupils in front of a fog of green and purple smoke coming out.

"It's him," she whispered. She stood, shaking while no pony noticed. Hundreds of thoughts rushed through her head. _This is him, what now? What's going to happen, will we defeat him?_

"Alright Sombra, time to send you back to the frozen North," Twilight shouted. A magical surge went through Twilight as she cast a spell, illuminating her horn once again, her eyes turned bright white. Five of them started to take their magical form, all but Fluttershy. The five were lifted into the air, it seemed the magic was working until they all dropped.  
Twilight turned to see Sombra still standing there.

"But, what? Why didn't it work?" she turned to all her friends and then saw Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!?"

"What?"

"Where is your cutie mark?!"

"It's right...what?" she didn't realize it until now.

"How did you not notice your own cutie mark was missing?" Rainbow yelled.

"I'm sorry for not looking at my flank all the time," she shot back.

"No time for arguing, lets get inside!" Twilight said. They rushed back up the castle steps to see a weakening Cadance.

"We have to leave," Twilight said out of breath.

"What, why, what happened?" Shining Armour asked.

"Fluttershy's cutie mark is gone, I don't know how, why or when and can't believe I didn't notice it before but we can't defeat him without her. Since Cadance's magic won't last forever I think it's best to evacuate before it's too late. We'll come up with a plan eventually but have to leave."

Shining Armour stared at her and then looked at his beloved. He nodded.

"I'll go get the Crystal Ponies, meet me outside in five minutes," he said, then running towards the gym.

"I'm so sorry Twilight," Fluttershy bowed her head in shame.

"It's not your fault, but a heads up would've been nice."

"It is my fault, all of it. Sombra, the shadow who is out there waiting is after me. I don't know why or how this is all happening but I do know that he is the nightmare that keeps following me and probably the reason why I don't have my cutie mark. I'm sorry, I feel like I've put my friends in danger and even an entire Empire."

Rarity walked to her side.

"Darling, it's alright. We'll figure something out," she tried to comfort her. Twilight went over to Cadance and held her hoof.

"It'll be alright. Come on, we have o meet Shining."

Cadance and the six mares waited for Shining Armour to come out with all the Crystal Ponies. When he did, there was many more frightened faces amongst them.

"King Sombra is fast but we can out run him, on my mark we will all run to the train station ahead. Agreed?" he said sternly.

"Alright, 1...2...3!"

All the crystal ponies ran along with the mane six, Cadance and Shining Armour. Cadance released her spell and used what strength she had left to run, as fast as she could.  
They were so close to the barrier but Fluttershy was falling back.

* * *

Discord had been searching for Fluttershy, growing more anxious by the second. He used his magic to teleport himself to where she was but that only lead him to the Icy Blizzard. He could see the Empire ahead but his magic wouldn't allow him to teleport into the Empire so he had to walk.

* * *

Most of the ponies had made it out of the Crystal Empire and into the blizzard. Shining Armour and Cadance were at the front. Soon all was across except Fluttershy. King Sombra was lowering down a dark barrier around the entire empire that was closing fast. Fluttershy wasn't going to make it.

"Use your wings!" Rainbow yelled. Fluttershy knew she had no choice even though they were broken she had to try. She opened up her wings, caught a breeze and was soon flying until her wings gave up. She fell fast towards the ground, landing in front of the barrier. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to drag herself across but was caught by Sombra's dark magic that tried to pull her back.

"No, please no," tears filled her eyes. Just ahead she saw a horrified draconequus running towards her. Discord was right in front of her.

"Take my paw!" he yelled. Fluttershy used all the strength left inside her to stand.

"Discord," she whispered.

"What?"

"I love you." She pulled him close and put her lips on his. Sombra's power was growing and closing in on her. She slowly pulled away from Discord.

"I'll always love you...and I'm gonna miss you so much," there was a throbbing pain in her throat.

"Wha-" Before he could say anything else, Flutteshy pushed him away from the now closed barrier so that he was safe from King Sombra and the crystal Empire. Fluttershy pushed her hooves against the force field. And said one word that killed Discord.

"Goodbye."


	12. Chapter 12: What Now?

I'm so sorry everypony that this took so long to get out. I went on Vacation and wasn't able to find time or access to a computer. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, again so sorry for the delay!

* * *

Sombra's dark magic was like a sticky web that clung to Fluttershy, what destroyed Discord was the fact that she was right in front of him and there was nothing he could do. His magic was not as strong as the magic Sombra had obtained from the Crystal Ponies. Discord lay on the icy tundra, a million thoughts and emotions rushing throughout his body. _She's gone. What was she going to say? He took her. What's he going to do with her? The only pony who I've ever cared about is gone. What now?_

He just stared at the large, blurred barrier that stood between him and the pony he secretly loved. He stood up and started banging on the forcefield. Fluttershy was slowly being dragged away by the dark magic, doing her best to resist. Her hooves were trying to cling to anything, she was begging that he let her go.

"Please, please, please. No, no ,no." She could just keep her eyes on Discord, she didn't want to put him through this. She could see that this was killing Discord, she knew her fate would come eventually and really didn't want Discord to watch her slip away from his sight. She gave up. The black magic absorbed her and vanished.

"No!" Discord cried, he could no longer see her.

"You monster, let her go! She doesn't want anything to do with you!"  
The shadow of King Sombra chuckled.

"If only you knew." He vanished as well. Discord sat at the edge of the barrier, crying so hard but softly. He din't want anypony to see him cry, especially her friends and especially Rainbow Dash. He wiped his tears but they just kept coming as he stood up. Twilight came running up behind him.

"Hey we...Discord? Come on, we have to get out of here! Where's Flutter..." she looked around and saw Discord just stand there.

"Go." He said.

"But where's...?"

"GO."

"What happened?"

"What do you think! You're so smart figure it out! Just go, leave me!"

"I'm not leaving without Fluttershy."

"Well then I guess you'll be staying quite a while."

"But...she should've-"

"Made it?!" he finished her sentence and turned to her with his soaked face,"Well guess what, she didn't. Now go!"  
Twilight, too, now had tears in her eyes.

"For the good of the Empire I will, but you have to come to."

"Why?"

"We need your magic and your help to rescue her," she stated. This intrigued Discord, he would do anything to get her back.

"Call me when you need me," he vanished to his house. He started smashing everything in a furious rage.

"I promised her! I told her she'd be safe! I promised to protect her!" he yelled in anguish. He was about to smash another object when he realized what was in his hand. It was a picture of him and Fluttershy. The picture showed Fluttershy blushing in Discord's arms; he had such a happy expression as he held her.

"I will do everything in my power to get you back."

* * *

Twilight was still standing at the border and took a final glance.

"We'll get you out Fluttershy, I promise," she whispered, she then turned and left to the train station.

When she got there, the train was packed and aboard were many panicked ponies. Her 4 friends, Cadance, Shining Armour, Flurry Heart and the rest of the Crystal Ponies.

"Where's Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked. Twilight started crying and collapsed to her feet.

"She...she didn't make it," she sniffled. Her friends were speechless.

"Well then let's go an get er," Applejack said.

"We can't, his magic is too strong. His forcefield is dark magic but it seems he waited awhile for his attack. He must've fed on the love of the Crystal Ponies before he attacked and now he's stronger than ever."

Once again the other 4 were speechless. The train started and they left the station, saying goodbye to their friend promising that they'd come back.

* * *

Fluttershy was in the throne room, horrified and even a bit cold. Sombra walked in, eyeing her with a smug look on his face. He went over to the throne and sat down in it.

"Ah, much better. How are you my flower?" he asked. This made Fluttershy cringe.

"Please don't call me that," she said shyly.

"Flower, I may call you whatever I want. After all, I am in charge."  
Fluttershy bowed her head and sighed.

"Now," he levitated her towards him,"time for some ground rules. You may not leave the castle, you are not to touch me, no contact with anypony outside the barrier and must obey my every command so I should never here the word 'no' come from those lips. Understand?" he peered at her lips and then at her whole body.

"Nod if you understand." She din't nod.

"Oh, bad girl. Very well." He levitated her higher and threw her against the wall across from him releasing her from the magical grasp.

"NOD!" he commanded. She slowly nodded. Tears came down her eyes but she hid behind her hair so he wouldn't see it.

"Good girl, now come back over here, I can't see you," he grinned, maliciously. Since Fluttershy didn't exactly want to be thrown against another wall, she obeyed full of shame. She sat down in front of him.

"Now, would you like to know why you? Why you of all ponies are here?"  
She nodded slowly.

"Hmf. Alright. Did you know your great-great-great grandpa was a crystal pony?"  
She shook her head softly.

"Well, I knew him. He was under my rule a few hundred years back. Oh how he begged for freedom from my grasp. He said he would do anything just to be able to leave. I considered his offer and did some 'research'. I found a spell that would allow me to see into the future, his future. And _ha_ guess what I found. Little did he know that his great-great-great grand daughter was destined to be the element of kindness. I thought what a great deal that would be, after all, those other bearers can't enact their 'magic of friendship'," he rolled his eyes at that part,"without all of the element bearers. After all that was confirmed when Discord returned." At the sound of Discord's name, Fluttershy raised her head and wished so dearly to be back with him.  
Sombra could see that Discord enacted something inside of the Pegasus in front of him, but didn't know what.

"H...how did you know about Discord's...re...release?"

"Just because I can't leave the Crystal Empire, doesn't mean I'm not aware when the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony has escaped."

Fluttershy didn't say anything.

"Anyway...so I just figured, my chances of being banished would lessen quite a lot; and only because of getting one mare out of the picture. Especially since you have the most power and connection to your element." He smiled, evilly.

"But...I thought Twilight was the most powerful-"

"Think about my flower. You are the most connected to your element, you live up to your name and even before your name was written in your element of harmony you had always been...nice," he cringed.

"Wha...bu." she sighed and looked down.

"I talked to your distant relative about our agreement. I told him that something of his would belong to me but I didn't tell him what that was, despite not knowing he didn't hesitate. He even signed this document confirming it." King Sombra made a gold scroll appear and unraveled it. Fluttershy took a step closer to see the signature.

 _Capri Blue Shy_

Fluttershy backed away.

"So...so what you're saying is-" tears puddled in her eyes again.

"I own you, Fluttershy," he grinned a wide and mischievous smile towards Fluttershy.

"You would be breaking a signed contract."

"So what, I would just wander around this castle being unable to leave?"

"Well, more or less."

"What does that mean?"

"You see, I can't risk you escaping. And if you were to escape, I would have to make sure that you would be powerless against me. I'm just taking the extra precautions my flower."  
Fluttershy stared at him with disgust, fear, anguish and depression.

"What does _that_ mean?" she still didn't quite understand.

"Oh, my dear innocent flower. I'm afraid I'm going to have to extract you of your magic."  
Fluttershy backed away with small pupils and a terrified expression.

"You can't escape my flower."  
 _But I can try._ She thought. She turned around and started running down the stairs towards the exit of the castle. Sombra was amused at her attempt. He walked over to the balcony to watch her try. He knew she could never get across.

She ran as fast as she could towards the barrier, not looking behind her. When she reached it, she started banging on it, hard. She turned around and started kicking it with her back-hooves. She tried harder and harder but her kicks only weakened. She soon lost her balance and collapsed onto the ground. Surely Sombra would come to fetch her soon but she needed to let Discord know about the contract.

"D...Discord. I...I know _him_ that I didn't tell you where I was going an...and that you're probably really mad right now. B...but I need you, please." She waited awhile but nothing happened.

"Please, please Discord. I...I don't have much time before he-" her words were interrupted as a bright flash of white light shone from the other side of the border. It was Discord, his body and head was turned and his arms were crossed. He stood there in silence for a while; Fluttershy was about to break the ice until he finally spoke.

"Why?" he asked.

"W...why what?" she asked, nervous about his tone.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going? All this time, this is what you were afraid of, this is what was haunting you and when the moment comes you don't even tell me?"

"Discord I...I'm sorry. I just thought you needed a break, surely you had better things to do than protect me every-" she stopped because of the look he gave her. It was a look that meant _are you serious?_

"I...I mean surely you have other priorities. You have a life and I...I guess I just thought that there would be some more important-"

"Nothing."

"What?" she asked, confused at his words.

"There was and still is...nothing more important than keeping you safe. But..." he sighed, "I failed." His ears drooped. Fluttershy was shocked and touched by his words. She wanted to embrace him and tell him how she felt but knew this wasn't the right time.

"Discord this is NOT your fault. You have nothing to do with this, it's all on me. I'm sorry I put you through this and that I didn't tell you but...I'm afraid this was a fate I couldn't have escaped either way. Y...you see m...my ancestor was a Crystal Pony and he was under Sombra's rule...until they made a deal. In return for my _grandpa's_ freedom, Sombra would be promised something that belonged to Capri, the name of my relative, and Sombra...Sombra wanted me." Her head fell as she stared at the ground, surrendering herself to her own fate.  
Discord turned to face her and knelt down so his knee was touching the icy tundra and put his forehead against the shield.

"I promise," he whispered. Fluttershy looked up at him as he raised his head off the barrier.

"W...w-" she started to say. He raised his head so his eyes were staring, sincerely, at her.

"I promise to do everything in my power to get you out of here, Fluttershy," he gave a small smile and laid his paw on the shield, she did the same with her hoof.

"Discord..." she gave a small chuckle, "I don't know how you still manage to care for me after...after all I've put you through," she bowed her head towards the ground.

"Fluttershy, look at me," he demanded softly. She carefully raised her head.

"There is nothing, and I mean nothing that you could do to push me away. Remember, I'm clingy," he gave a small laugh. Fluttershy, once again, chuckled through tears.

"I don't know what I would do without you Discord. For one, I probably wouldn't be talking to anypony right now and..." she stopped mid-sentence, hearing a noise from behind her.

"No," she whispered. She was fully aware that she was still trapped in this dome with _him_ but being near him frightened her. Discord's head and body raised to its full height as he watched the black mist make its way towards Fluttershy.

"Nice try, but I told you. There is no escaping me, my flower."

"Don't call me that," she said quietly. He didn't seem to hear her. Sombra's gaze met the tall draconequus standing beyond the barrier.

"Well, if it isn't the Lord of Chaos himself. I congratulate you on your second escape. Sorry to say, but I'm afraid this mare is my toy. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find another pony to agonize," he cocked evilly. Fluttershy watched as Discord's eyes turned into slits as he slowly raised off the ground. Sombra noticed this too.

"Whatever is the matter? Did you go through some sort of great length just to capture and toy this singular mare? I'm deeply sorry, but as I said, she is taken," he still did not fully understand Discord's relation to the yellow pegasus or of his reformation. Discord took a deep breath and let his hoof's reach the ground.

"I'll have you know, Sombra," Discord gritted through his teeth, "that I did not escape, but was released. I now work for the princesses and am reformed. All of it is because of this beautiful and kind mare you see before you. I may not quite, yet, understand the history you have with her or her family but I assure you that she doesn't deserve this," Discord said sincerely while looking at the blushing Fluttershy.

"Well," Sombra looked at Fluttershy, but she didn't notice, "looks like somepony's been keeping secrets." He glared at her rosy pink mane. Fluttershy turned to face him.

"Oh..umm, you...you never asked," she said softly.

"Yes...well. I must say Discord, I'm quite surprised to hear this. I never thought of the once strong, powerful, independent and chaotic spirit of disharmony begging me for the life of a small little pegasus. Look at you, you're pathetic. You're nothing but weak, and because of your reformation you've become less and less powerful. You succumbed to the role of delivery boy for three...no four princesses. You are so worthless. It is because of your weakness that you aren't powerful enough to help this," he crept towards Fluttershy, she cowered away from him, "small, scared and wimpy pegasus." Discord lowered his head. _No, he's just playing tricks. This isn't your fault._ Fluttershy could see the concern in Discord's face.  
Her face was facing away from Sombra until now. She stared him in the eyes.

"Don't talk to him that way," both Somba and Discord were shocked by this. Sombra scoffed.

"What did you say?"

"I...I said don't talk to him that way. Discord deserves better than that, better than me. This whole time, he has done nothing but be sweet and kind, and I know you're evil and everything but that does not give you the right to accuse Discord of something that isn't true. If anything, he has gotten stronger by being reformed by letting friendship an...and l...love into his life. You may have the power and love of an Empire on your side, but Discord is in power of all things chaotic, including love. He...he just doesn't know how to accept that yet." She turned to face Discord, "He doesn't want to, nor does he think that he is a creature capable of love or being love but if being the element of Kindness has taught me anything it's that, after years of convincing yourself...tha...that you aren't worthy of love...it...it can be hard to accept or say," she bowed her head low. "I should know," she whispered quietly enough for nopony to hear. Discord stared at her, dumbfounded. He never knew that she had that in her.

"Well...my flower, that was _ha_ quite an interesting speech you made there but there _is_ one thing you are right about." He crept closer towards her so his muzzle was in her ear. A malicious grin swept across his face. "I _am_ powerful, which is why you should've thought about who you're talking to before you opened your precious little mouth."

 _Wh-_ she began to think but it was too late. Sombra shot a beam of magic into her chest which made her collapse onto the ground, unconscious.

"No!" Discord said.

"Calm down, it's not like she's dead," he put his hoof under her chin, "not yet anyway."

"Don't touch her! Don't you dare touch her! I swear, if I find out you laid a _hoof_ on that mare, you will be begging Tartarus to let you in!"

"I'll take my chances," he shrugged smugly as he leaned his head towards Fluttershy's. Sombra gave her a small peck on the cheek. Discord was infuriated. _How dare he!?_

"Relish this moment Discord, for I believe this will be your last memory of her...alive, anyway. Ta ta," he was gone in a poof of black smoke along with Fluttershy's limp body in a matter of seconds.

"No," Discord whispered.


	13. Chapter 13: It's Getting Difficult

AUTHOR NOTE: This Chapter might get a bit inappropriate and mushy. Just a warning. Any way, hope you enjoy!

* * *

Discord just stood there, once again, watching the Crystal Empire. Sombra had his best friend and the love of his life trapped forever inside of an impossible break-through barrier. Tears were falling down his face again, but there was no sobs only silence. His lip didn't quiver nor did you say anything, he just stood as the salty liquid ran how his cheek. _"-this is your final memory of her-"._ Those words rang through his head and made their way down to his heart. _She is in there, she is innocent, beautiful, sweet, kind, scared and so vulnerable right now. I can't believe he called her flower._ He sighed and vanished back to his house.

Fluttershy had appeared in one of the rooms in the Crystal Palace. She was atop a large bed with white sheets, pillows and blanket. The walls, floor and ceiling were all crystal but instead of being colourful and vibrant they were grey or black, obviously the work of Sombra. _Oh I hope Discord's alright. Am I even alright._ She looked at her reflection in the mirror standing at the other side of the room. She was covered in bruises and her wings were broken with no bandages to help them heal. _Nope._ She smiled at the comment in her mind and looked down. Her cheeks were stained red from crying. The only objects in her room was the mirror and bed, the door to leave was locked and had three small bars near the top. There was one window, quite small, that didn't have any glass but instead was replaced with bars. She sighed realizing how trapped she truly was. She decided to look out at the rest of the Empire through the bars, only to see Sombra's dark magic encasing it like he had done many years ago. _Why does he make it seem like he's so proud of himself? All he has done is entrap a single mare, that wasn't even hard to get._ She was disappointed in herself at the thought. _I should've tried harder, I should've told Discord._ Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her door opening.

"Hello Flower, enjoying the view?" he smirked. Talking or even seeing Sombra was the last thing she wanted to do right now. She tried to ignore him, technically she wasn't objecting a request.

"Looks like somepony is in a bad mood," he, so rudely, inquired. Fluttershy was disgusted by his stupid attempts at somewhat of a joke.

"My Flower, look a me."  
She let out a breath, she didn't know she'd been holding in. She knew she couldn't not look at him. She slowly turned to face him.

"Good girl. Why so glum?"  
She hid behind her hair and wanted to run, ever so much. Fluttershy knew that he knew was she was 'so glum' and the fact that he asked anyway annoyed her.

"Fine, you aren't ready to talk but I am. You see, you disobeyed all the rules today and for that I must punish you."  
Fluttershy looked him straight in the eye.

"Haven't you done enough?" she scolded quietly with a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Hmm?" he raised his eyebrow and gave an evil smile. It made Fluttershy shiver. She didn't want to say anything so she just turned her head away from him.

"I see." She was still very mad and didn't even flinch when he spoke, pretending not to acknowledge him.

"You know Flow-"

"Didn't you say you were going to punish me? Just get it over with," she shot at him and then turned back to face the bed.

"If that's how you feel, but I'm going to have to extend it since you interrupted me." Fluttershy squinted at the bed, trying not to cry.

"But first why don't I tell you what it is, hmm?"  
Fluttershy just made a small sigh and lowered her head.

"You know this wouldn't be so difficult if you just followed my rules." Fluttershy was having so many mixed emotions, grief, depression, anger, disgust and annoyance.

"Just throw me against a wall or something," Fluttershy said, wanting to get the pain over with immediately.

"Oh please, thats no fun," this got Fluttershy's attention. _Well then what IS he going to do?_

He started creepily walking towards her. He cornered her so that her back was against the bedside. He got so close that Fluttershy jumped on the bed and tried to back away.

"Wha...what are you doing?" she asked, scared. He didn't respond and also got atop the bed. He licked his lips maliciously which absolutely horrified Fluttershy, she tried to get back off the bed but there was now a magical barrier around it. _No_ _._ She thought. Her back was fully against the invisible force. He kept getting closer. _No no no no no._ She said inside her head. He was eventually directly in front of her, he put each of his hooves on a side of her head, trapping her. She squealed absolutely terrified.

"Please...please don't," she begged.

"Better not be such a naughty girl," he cruelly smiled. She whimpered. The armour that he always wore disappeared off his body. _Oh no_ _I can't do this. What the Tartarus does he think he's doing. No, please don't. Ugh._ His face was directly in front of hers, he leaned in fast and tried to press his lips against hers, but failed. She moved her hoof in front of her face before he could.

"No," was all she could get out, her voice was muffled. She brought her hooves to his chest and pushed, she tried so hard to get him away. For a few seconds it worked but he was still quite close.

"Does my Flower request a different punishment?"

"Yes, please. I can't do this."

"Aww, what a shame. You know, this relationship could work if you just agreed with everything."

"No thank you," she added again.

"Such a pity, maybe another time," he winked, which did nothing but make her more uncomfortable. His armour was put back on and the barrier was released, causing Fluttershy to fall off.

"Now, a different punishment you say?" She nodded while still laying on the floor. She carefully got up.

"Very well, I'll enjoy this too." he cast a stabilizing spell on her. _What could he be doing?_

He walked over to her and looked at her chest.

"Nice necklace," he grinned. Fluttershy's eyes widened. _How could I have been so stupid, of course he put it there. But...how?_

"This won't hurt...me," his eyes widened and so did hers. He held his hoof back and lunged it toward the necklace.

"Ahg!" she cried in pain, she couldn't move so she just stood there as he did it three more times. The pain was electrifying and excruciatingly painful. When he was done he headed for the door.

"Goodnight, my Flower," he smirked and then closed and locked the door. As soon as he left, the spell on her was broken. She collapsed to the floor balling and sobbing her eyes out. Little did she know that Discord had been watching the entire time.

Discord was at his house, inside Fluttershy's guest room. He used a spell on her mirror so that he could see anything and anywhere he wished. He chose to see Fluttershy and what he witnessed was horrifying.

He watched her get hit on, how she requested another punishment and how she had been so injured. He had never seen her cry so hard, this moment was the most she had ever weeped in front of him. He was so angry, depressed and wanted so badly to comfort her and love her in his arms.

Fluttershy laid on the floor, still, and kept crying. There were so many bruises and her wings were definitely not helped. She slowly raised her head, the room was dimming and all she could see was her mirror. Back at Discord's house, he put his paw to the mirror. The spell did not allow her to hear or see him but some how in some way she felt him near. She slowly and painfully got up and walked over to it, Discord could see her walk towards him and even look directly into his eyes.

"Discord, I don't know if I'm just hallucinating or you really are there but if you are just know that... _sob..._ I miss you so much and... _sniffle_...I know I saw you a few hours ago but I just...I really want you here right now. I miss you sleeping next to me an...and holding me. I...I don't know how much longer I can do this. but just know that it'll be alright. Goodnight," she said as she put her hoof to the mirror and for a split few seconds she could almost feel his soft touch. She stumbled towards the bed and got underneath the covers and swore that she could hear him speak.

"I love you Fluttershy."

 _I love you too, but I'm scared._

* * *

AUTHORS NOTE

YAY: I got another Chapter out, you guys deserve it. I'm still really sorry the previous one took so long. Hope you enjoyed it along with this one.


	14. Chapter 14: The Fate of Fluttershy

Fluttershy laid awake in the Crystal Palace, the night had come but she just couldn't find it within herself to agree with the sleep that lured her. She tossed and turned underneath the sheets that gave little comfort. The room was dim, for the only source of light came from the moonlight that shone through the bars. She kept staring at the mirror hoping and praying that Discord would appear through the other side.

* * *

Twilight had finally finished settling all the Crystal Ponies in open houses around Ponyville. Her brother and Cadance along with Flurry heart stayed in a guest room Twilight had kept for them. Shining Armour and Cadance were putting their Alicorn baby to sleep while Twilight arranged an urgent meeting with her and her friends and hopefully Discord although she knew that he was more than likely to appear.

Twilight waited for her friends in her throne room, she stared up at the dangling gems that hung from the branches of what was once her home. She found jewels that held memories of her and Fluttershy, which only brought a swelling in her throat. _I hope you're alright_. Soon enough Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack rushed to their thrones.

"Thank you guys for coming so quickly," Twilight said.

"Well duh, it's not like we're gonna take our sweet time while Fluttershy could be facing torture," Rainbow pointed.

"Indeed," Rarity commented.

"There's just one more thing...Discord!" Twilight shouted, but not too loud, aware of Flurry Heart. She waited but he didn't show, she tried once more.

"Discord! Reformed Lord of Chaos by Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness!" she hoped being more specific would help, and it did. Behind her appeared a broken hearted Draconequus. He sulked his way around the table and sat in Fluttershy's chair, he peered at her beautiful cutie mark that was decorated upon the chair and took a small sigh that nopony could hear.

"Thank you for coming Discord," Twilight said. Discord responded by giving her the ghost of a smile. _He isn't going to be too helpful acting like this._ Twilight thought.

"Discord, I know you're probably...hurting but we really need you focused and to care a bit more about the situation at hoof," Twilight told him.  
He let out a small chuckle that was almost frightening.

"What in Equestria makes you think I wouldn't care?"

Rainbow put her hoofs on the table and stood up.  
"Oh don't pretend like you really do. We can't replace our best friend, but you as sure as Tartarus can get a new marefriend to hypnotize," Rainbow shot. Discord pretended not to acknowledge Rainbow's statement, but even though he didn't show it; her words stung him.

"Rainbow!" Applejack shot. Rainbow turned to the western pony and sat back down.

"If we could just get through this one discussion with no arguing except how to get her back, that you would be great!" Twilight scolded.

"Sorry," Rainbow said, barely meaning it.

"Alright then. I did some research but there isn't much _to_ research. We don't even know why he-"

"You don't?" Discord asked.

"Umm no, how could we?" Twilight wondered.

"Well I just thought the _Princess of Friendship_ would've figured it out but since you haven't, yet anyway I suppose I'll shed some light."

"Wait, how do you know?" Pinkie jumped.

"Well, she sorta just told me," Discord said while flash backing to that moment that broke his heart, although it seemed his heart had been ripped many times since he met her, but it wasn't ever her fault.

"But...just tell us what you know. Please," Twilight said.

"Well when I first saw her, she was flying but only for a few split seconds. Her wings were broken though, why would she have thought-" he was cut off by realizing the wide eyed expression on Dash's face. He turned to her.

"Rainbow? Got anything to add?" he asked.

"Umm, well I may have told her to fly and use her wings. I'm sorry but I thought she would've made it, she was trailing behind and apparently wouldn't have made it across either way."  
Discord sighed, knowing it was probably true, she wouldn't have made it anyway.

"Ok. Well when she had fallen, she was inches away from crossing the barrier that was being lowered but...but...Sombra was too...too quick." He bowed his had in shame.

"I watched her be taken away and went back home but about an hour later, she called me. I appeared at the edge of he Empire and saw her running away from the Castle, she told me that there was a contract that one of her ancestors signed that gave Sombra some sort of ownership over her. Sombra eventually came to the barrier and mocked me about my past and...and," the memory of Sombra's lips on Fluttershy's cheek was something he deeply didn't want to talk about.

"It's alright sugacube, just say it. Please, we need every ounce of info we can get."  
He still hesitated. _It's not THAT important._ He thought, but he knew that Twilight could probably figure this out, but would need all the evidence. He took a deep breath.

"He...kissed her...on the cheek, but...still," he said quickly, glad it was off his chest. The five mares stared at him wide eyed.

"Eww!" Pinkie cringed.

"Wow, he made fun of your reputation?" Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Thats not exactly the part that bothered me most," he muttered.

"Right," Twilight said, emphasizing the word.

"Now umm, anything else?"

"Oh, umm I don't think so."

"And did you ever actually see the contract?" Twilight asked.

"No."

"We need to find that contract!" Twilight said.

"Why?" Discord wondered.

"If a contract is what is holding her back then we need to find some way she get get out of it, something he over looked."

"But what if there is no mistake, no loop hole?" he asked.

"There will, no pony just doesn't make any mistakes. No pony's perfect and that's what we're counting on," she said proudly.

"But will we find it, or even read it?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes, I mean it's a great plan darling but we can't exactly break in to the Empire let alone find the contract," Rarity concluded.

"Who said anything about breaking in?" Twilight said as if she were the smartest pony in Equestria, and she probably was. Everypony just looked at her questionably.

"Follow me," Twilight said as she got out of her throne and headed to the library. The others just shared glances with one another and then followed along behind their purple friend.

The library was huge and had hundreds, if not thousands of books. Twilight walked over to a small chest behind a few books. She pushed the books aside and grabbed the chest with her magic.

"What's that? Ooh is it a present?" Pinkie jumped excitedly.

"Uhh, sorry Pinkie but no. This is what is left of the potion that Zecora gave me when the Everfree Forest attacked," she shot a glance but it was still a smile at Discord. He just shrugged.

"Anyway, I can see the moment the document was signed and make a copy of it, that way we can have a good chance to find Fluttershy a way out of it."  
Discord nodded his head slowly.

Twilight held the bottle to her lips and slowly drank it. The four ponies and singular Draconequus stared and watched as their friend grew eyes of white and gave the bottle to the ground. She made sure to focus on Fluttershy's imprisonment.

Twilight was standing inside a dark and not so crystally Empire. She looked around the room to find Sombra sitting proudly upon 'his' new throne. She watched him with disgust and hatred, until a blue crystal pony came through his doors in chains and a heavy ball attached to his back left hoof.

"Hello, Capri," Sombra smiled wickedly.

"Please free me my lord, I beg of you. I'll give you anything you want?" the pony by the name of Capri pleaded.

"Ha, you think I'm gonna let you go that easily? You have nothing I want."

"Please, anything an...and maybe one day I will!" he begged. Sombra was thinking, Twilight could tell cause she knew that expression far too well.

"I'll consider it, but first," he used his magic to lift the pony and threw him against the wall," that's for interrupting my time...now go."  
Twilight gasped as her ears fell back. She watched as the pony of a drained blue slowly struggled out of the room. Twilight's first instinct was to help him, but knew she couldn't. She turned back to Sombra.

"Ha fool," he whispered under his breath,"although." Somba got out of the throne and headed for the crystal library.

Twilight followed close behind.

Sombra approached a shelf that held many books and retrieved one. He brought it over to the desk that sat on the side wall, it was a black colour but was still made of crystals. He set the book down, causing a bit of dust to fog but he didn't care. He flipped through the pages and Twilight could hear him muttering but couldn't hear what. She stopped and watched as his eyes widened. She walked over and read the title " _AHEAD OF THIS TIME"._

"Ah," he beamed. He read a spell over and then tried it with his magic, Twilight tried a spell of her own that would allow her to see what he would. The world around them faded and turned into stars, it was the same place Celestia took Twilight to turn her into an Alicorn. All of a sudden, a montage of Fluttershy started and Twilight's eyes started to fog into tears. There was videos of her being young, when she was shy and picked on, her growing up and getting her cutie mark. The video that seemed to peek Sombra's interest the most was the one of her becoming the Element of Kindness. Once he saw that one, an evil smile crept across his face.

"Gotcha," he snickered. Twilight wanted to punch him but knew it would do nothing, but then a video caught her eye. She walked to it slowly.

 _"Take my paw!" Discord yelled towards Fluttershy as the icy wind whipped her hair._

 _"Discord," Fluttershy whispered and neared him._

 _"What?"_

 _"I...I...g_ _oodbye." Fluttershy pushed Discord away from herself as she was dragged away by dark magic._

The screen faded and Twilight couldn't believe it. _Wow._ Before Twilight could think of anything else, the magical scenery around her disappeared and she found herself back in 'Sombra's' castle.

"I guess he might be of some use to me after all." he snickered. The image and world around Twilight faded as she was back in the throne room. Capri Blue Shy was, again, standing in front of King Sombra.

"Ha...have you made up y...your mind sire?" he stuttered.

"Indeed, I have. You may have your freedom," a big smile spread across Capri,"but...you have to give me something as equal as your freedom. Understand?"  
The blue pony nodded rapidly. Sombra's evil grin stretched across his face as he made a scroll appear. Twilight's eyes widened, she trotted over to it and froze everything around her. She cast a spell to make an exact replica. She then unfroze the past.

"Now here is a binding contract, which means once you sign it, it may not be broken. Agreed?"

"Yes, yes of course," the crystal pony said happily, eager for his freedom. Sombra used his magic to levitate the scroll down to Capri and made a feather pen appear in his mouth that was already inked.

Twilight watched as the pony quickly signed the contract without even reading it, her eyes widened in anger knowing that he didn't know what he had to give up or in this case, who. But the fact that he didn't read made Sombra smile where Twilight's face fell.  
Once it was fully signed, Sombra cast a spell to release the pony from his chains and sent him to the edge of the Crystal Empire. When he left Twilight could only hear a psychopathic laugh come from this King of Darkness.

"Once I drain that mare of her magic and...ha even her life, there will be no pony who can stop me!" he laughed maniacally. Once Twilight heard those words, she was sent back to her castle and her own time period. Everypony stared at her eagerly.

"Oh no."


	15. Chapter 15: The Contract

"Uh, Twilight? Ya alright sugarcube?" Applejack waved in front of Twilight's eyes, for it seemed she had gone into a trance. Twilight shook her head and then turned to look at every pony's impatient eyes.

"Darling, everything alright?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah, like Twilight your eyes returned but then you went all willy nilly saying uh oh and we were all super confuzzled." Pinkie jabbered.

"Right, umm. Fluttershy's in danger," Twilight said worried. Discord pushed himself towards the front of the crowd.

"What kind of danger?" he panicked.

"Big danger. It's hard to explain but Sombra's gonna take away her magic an...and without her magic she...she could die."

"But she's a pegasus, pegasus don't _have_ magic," Pinkie said.

"But she's an element of harmony, taking away her magic would mean taking away her kindness and since kindness is the magic that generates her...she...she will die without it," Twilight said looking down and taking a deep but stuttered sigh.  
Discord stared at her with a look of deepest fear and concern. He leaned in towards Twilight.

"So...so what you're saying is th...that if we don't stop him then he'll k...kill her?" he wanted to clarify. She nodded sadly. He slowly retracted his body and stood up.

"But you got that scroll thing right?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, yes I did," she used her magic to make her copy of the document appear,"here it is."

 _This agreement was signed on the year of the 1482 moon.  
_ _This agreement is between King Sombra and (the name signed).  
_ _Whoever signs this document is hereby agreeing to the terms it conditions._

 _~The great-great-great grand daughter, the element of Kindness, Fluttershy, will be enforced by this contract to King Sombra._

 _~She must agree and follow the rules Sombra will ask of her._

 _~If she is to break the rules, she will be punished by ways of which the King sees fit._

Discord thought about that part. _Yeah, like trying to rape her._

 _~The King is to deal with her whatever way he wishes._

 _This document will be officiated by_

 _FIRST NAME:_

 _LAST NAME:_

Once the girls and the draconequus finished reading they all looked up at one another.

"Well, what do you think?" Rarity asked Twilight.

"I didn't see anything but I'm sure I'll find something. Just give me a minute." Twilight said as she walked towards her ' _'_ _Thinking Room''_ was what she called it.  
Applejack turned to face the group of ponies.

"Well y'all. We might as well do somethin while Twi does her...you know."  
The other ponies and Discord nodded.

"Like...what?" Rainbow asked.

"Ooh, lets play pin-the-tail-on-the-pony!" Pinkie squeed. The other three mares looked at one another and nodded. All except Discord, who floated over to a window and looked out on the night clouded Ponyville wondering what in the wide world of Equestria Fluttershy was doing.

* * *

Said pegasus, was still staring at the ceiling of her room, she wished she knew what time it was. She kept tossing and turning but her body would not allow sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't sleep.

Meanwhile Sombra was pacing his newly claimed throne room. _Should I wait to kill and drain her? Or should I have some fun first._ He stopped walking and spread a mischievous smile across his face. _It's been so long since I've had somepony to play with. I mean, after I lost the Crystal Empire it was so dull under the ice. It took sooo long for that damn Empire to expand. Ugh it was so boring._ He raised his head. _I AM quite bored now that I think about it._

He faced the entrance into the hall and started trotting down towards Fluttershy's room.

She had her back hooves hanging off the bad while she held her front hooves in front of her while looking down at the necklace around her neck. She gasped when she heard the door open.

"Can't you just leave me be?" she asked softly, under her breath. Apparently he could hear her.

"Well, I just thought that I was sooo bored I might as well check up on my flower. Make sure it had enough water," he smirked and lowered his eyes. Fluttershy just cringed, once more, at his dastardly comment.

"Anyway, I just thought I'd have some fun. Come along," he said while turning his back to her. She hesitated.

"I'm really quite tired," she replied. He turned to face her again.

"You know I'm so sick and tired of you treating me this way, and you know what?" she looked up at him," I'm gonna make it easier for you." He shot a beam of dark magic at her necklace. She didn't feel anything, she wondered why it didn't hurt. He answered her mind question.

"The necklace will only harm you when I see fit. Now come along," he grinned. This time, Fluttershy had no choice because the necklace dragged her towards him and if she resisted the slightest it would dig into her fur and grow pointy crystals inside it. Soon enough, she was by his side.

"Ugh...you're a monster," she said, holding back tears.

"Funny, how thats what you used to think of Discord," he glared at her and her heart shattered. She said nothing and just looked away from him. He gave a small chuckle and started walking out the door way while Fluttershy was forced to follow close behind. He led to her a big room, stacked high with books. _Twilight would love it here._ She thought but then lowered her head, sad to remember her violet friend who'm she probably wouldn't see for a while. _No, don't worry Fluttershy. Twilight will find a way to get me outta here._ She reassured herself.

"Now don't move from that spot and don't touch anything," he grinned,"I'll be right back." he said and then trotted off. Fluttershy stood there and looked at all the books, the necklace forced her to stay in her place.

She was close to a shelf but wasn't close enough to touch anything. One particular book caught her eye _"Time Travel"_ it was the same book that Twilight had told her about. She had told Fluttershy that she used that spell to talk to her past self. Fluttershy's eyes widened. She tried to reach it but couldn't. The necklace pinched her and tears started forming in her teal eyes. She didn't care, she NEEDED to see that book. Reaching for it while her fur was jabbed, she was able to knock it off the shelf but it still jabbed her. " _-don't touch anything,"_ was what he said. She painfully flipped through the book and found the spell Twilight had used. It was for unicorn magic. _"Especially since you have the most power and connection to your element"_ was another thing he had told her. She wondered if she would be able to use that power. She then remembered how Discord was able to use magic he didn't even know he had when they both embraced each had told her he loved her, she had partially thought he meant it in a friendly now, things were different. She slowly and begrudgingly put her right front hoof to her chest and thought about Discord. _His sweet smile, as sweet as his cotton candy and chocolate milk. The way he holds me and reassures me that I will be alright. He will do all in his power to protect me. He loves me, I love him._ At all those thoughts, a small light illuminated from within her, something happened to her hoof as it glowed retracting to magic from her chest. She put her hoof to the spell but once she touched the book, her tears came back swelling from her eyes.

 _Sob...sob_

Despite the excruciating pain that went throughout her neck she watched, teary eyed, as the words on the page illuminated. The words seemed to leap off the page in a magical golden swirl surrounding her. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was outside in the near dark. She could see herself walking away from Discord's house ahead of her.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy!" she yelled to her younger self. She seemed to get her attention. But as those words escaped Fluttershy, the necklace seemed to ignite brighter. She felt herself transforming to something else, she watched her coat grow greyer and her vision felt weird.

"Who are you?" asked the young Flutteshy. The present Fluttershy was about to respond but could feel Sombra enter the library even though she was somewhat there. She could hear him speak.

"What are you doing my flower?" he asked wickedly. Fluttershy panicked.

"I'm...I'm you. Flutter...Fluttershy you must listen to me. Don't go to the Cry...the Crys," the magic was fading, "Don't listen to him!" And then Fluttershy faded away from the past Fluttershy's view.

"You will give in to me," Sombra told the younger Fluttershy, just to spook her. Fluttershy was still woozy as she fell to her hooves.

"Cute little trick you played there, but we both know you won't be able to change your fate," he lifted her head with his left front hoof and then dropped her head.

"And it seems you're too strong for this piece of junk," he looked at the necklace,"ha," he chuckled.

"What?" she panted and she tried to stand.

"You DO have great power...don't you. You're even a pegasus and you did a time spell. I sure am lucky," he smirked. This only made tears fall from her eyes. The necklace vanished from her neck and she fell back down to the ground, feeling her neck with her hoof. It had precise bruises from where the pokes had been. There was even a bit of blood. She stared at her blood covered hoof and cried harder.

"Do stop crying I find it quite annoying," he mocked,"after all I need to show you an idea I had. But after your _attempt_ to change your fate I realized you had made this moment even better."  
She looked up at him. He pushed her back down with his hoof.

"Say cheese," he beamed evilly. He took a picture with his horn and sent it to somepony.

"Wh...why?" was all she could say.

"Questions later, my flower. Time for you to go back to your cage."

"Ugh...you...you-"

"Oh hush. I guarantee that in a few days," he leaned in closer to her ear and whispered,"you'll worship me."

He said nothing else and used his magic to transport her back to her room. She was back on her bed, she continued to glare at the ceiling but this time with thousands of tears.

* * *

Discord was turning away from the window when he saw something white heading towards him. It was a letter. He had a confused expression and slowly opened it. It wasn't a letter, but a picture. It showed Fluttershy struggling to get off the ground with bruises and blood around her neck. Discord growled and crumpled up the piece of paper, throwing it across the room in a rage.  
The others were about to ask what it was but Twilight burst out of the room she had been in.

"I FOUND IT! I FOUND THE LOOP HOLE!"

* * *

AUTHORS NOTE: I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter.

If you think you know, comment what you think the mistake Sombra could've made was.


	16. Chapter 16: The Crystal Heart

Discord turned and stared at her anxiously, waiting for an answer.

"I found out Sombra's mistake."

"Well...what is it?" Rainbow asked impatiently. Twilight showed the document in front of herself.

"Look," she waved for them all to come closer.

"The great-great- blah blah blah element of Kindness, Fluttershy, blah blah blah. Must _agree_ and follow the rules Sombra will ask of her," Twilight said pointing at the word "agree". The group of ponies stared wide eyed.

"Gosh Twilight, ya were right," Applejack admitted.

"Yes, I know. Unless Fluttershy actually agrees then the contract doesn't count, and something tells me she doesn't," Twilight pointed out happily.

"Well, what're we waiting for? A party? Although that does sound like something to wait for-"

"PINKIE!" they all shouted.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Hold your spectacle Twilight," at that Twilight shot Rainbow a friendly glare,"but even if we do tell him he doesn't have a right to Fluttershy, what's to stop him anyway? I mean, I don't really think he would just hand her over so we can defeat him eagerly."  
All heads looked down.

"Well, it's still worth a try," Discord said softly. They all looked up and nodded.

"Yes, of course," Twilight said.

"Well y'all lets-"

"Just a second," Twilight interrupted,"we can't just walk right up...we need, at least, some sort of plan."

"I _yawn_ think you're right Twi but first _yawn_ maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some rest?"

"Yeah, you're right. Everypony...and Draconequus, meet back here at Sunrise," Twilight suggested.

"That early?" Rainbow complained.

"Ooh I'm sooo sorry if you aren't anxious to save your best friend from her death threatening doom," Discord glared. Rainbow just put her hooves up in defeat, while everypony shared a small laugh.

"Goodnight everypony and Discord," Twilight said as they all headed for the doors, except Discord who just vanished from sight. Twilight sighed and walked towards her bedroom, thinking of ways to save her friend.

* * *

Sombra was sitting in his chambers although he wasn't fond of sleep, so he didn't. He sat up all night, watching the montage of Fluttershy's past. He watched her moments of fear, and he was always disappointed to find a certain reformed lord of chaos by her side. Even when he had tried his best to make her fear him the most Discord had always been there to protect her. _Ha...I'd like to see him try and save her this time._ He chuckled, but he was still unaware of the fact that no matter what, Discord would always try.

But then Sombra had a realization. _Discord is her weakness and she is his._ This time, a cruel grin spread across his muzzle.

"That pegasus will truly learn fear, and when she realizes the only one who can save her can't...she _will_ break." He told himself aloud. Laughing maliciously.

* * *

Discord walked towards his room and stood in the doorway. He felt and knew he should get some rest but no matter what, he couldn't. He couldn't stop thinking about Fluttershy. _She's going to die?_ He remembered Twilight's exact words. _"-she's an element of harmony, taking away her magic would mean taking away her kindness and since kindness is the magic that generates her...she...she will die without it."_ As Discord recalled those words, he felt tears come swelling up from his pupils.

He gave a slight smile.

"Why must loving you cause me so much pain?"

He walked out, back into his hall and set eyes upon Fluttershy's _room_. He walked in and could almost smell her fragrance, she always smelt of rose petals and even butterscotch once in a while. The ghost of a smile spread across his face and he walked towards her bed. He ran his paw across the tossed sheets and soft pillow, the smell of her was so strong, he couldn't help but lay down in her scent.  
Soon enough he fell asleep, feeling as if she were right next to him.

* * *

The sun had risen in the Crystal Empire and Fluttershy, for a moment, had forgotten where she was.

 _yawn_

"I hope the animals slept...oh, right. OH, the animals!" she sat straight up but fell out of the bed, twisted in the sheets.

"Oh, I do hope they're alright. Or...at least in a better situation than I'm in," she sighed. She untangled herself and walked over to the window covered in bars and looked out on the dark and black Empire that she used to know as a home to many happy ponies. She put her hooves atop the sill, but when she saw her hooves they were still drained from earlier that night. She gasped and backed away, accidentally hitting the mirror. She jumped at the sudden contact and stared at her reflection. Discord had been right, he told her no matter what she would end up looking like her clone and now she had. Her hair had even lost its small puff at the top, she was void of bright colours and her eyes were greyer.  
She heard a knock on the door, but it still opened even though she didn't allow permission.

"Good morning Flower," he said as she slowly backed away from him.

"You look quite different don't you?" he grinned.

"Why...why do I look like this?"

"You see, there is another thing I forgot to tell you about that necklace you wore earlier. When you struggled against it, the crystals would not only impact your skin but would drain small amounts of your magic," he smiled and stepped closer to her, "I think I'll just leave it on you, but I don't wanna wait too long for your your magic to drain. But don't worry, it'll all be over soon. This will be quite pleasant to watch."

He used his magic and placed it around her neck once more. She stared at him, an empty expression slashed across her face.

"Are you hungry Flower?" he asked, not really caring if she was. She didn't say anything, although she was starving.

"Ok, I'll just leave you to starve then," he started walking away. Fluttershy couldn't take it.

"Wait...yes," she said quietly and disappointed in herself.

"Good girl...now wait here," he left the room to go, where ever, but he didn't close the door. She wanted to leave the room but thought that would be disobeying a command and didn't want to get cut and especially did **_not_** want his face touching hers. She was disgusted by the thought.  
He came back with some hay, but the food laid before her also looked quite strange. She raised an eyebrow.

"So picky, this isn't a hotel," he said dropping the food and heading for the door. She didn't want to give in, but her personality kicked in.

"Thank you," she said as quietly and softly as possible. Sadly, he heard her.

"Ah, somepony's got some manners I see," he turned back around to face her. _Why did I have to say that?_ She thought, regretting her decision. Her eyes widened in fear as he got nearer.

"Is somepony appreciating my service?" he asked, a wicked gleam in his eye.

"Uhh...I was j...just being p...polite," she stuttered.

"Is that all?"  
She nodded rapidly as his face got inches closer from hers. She turned her head away.

"Aw, what a shame. I was really hoping to send Discord some more pictures," he said immediately walking towards the door. She then turned to look at him.

"Wait, what?" she asked. The mention of Discord gave her memories of the last time she'd seen him. She wanted answers.

"See you later my Flower," He said locking the door behind him.

"What did you do?" she tried to yell through the bars in the door and stood up on her hind legs, knowing her screams were never useful. She sunk back down to the floor, she grabbed her knees and wrapped herself in a ball. Slowly feeling the necklace, she realized it had not hurt her. _He must've re-programmed it._ She sighed and then cried. It had barely been two days and she was already breaking underneath Sombra and bending towards him. She sobbed against the door and softly cried Discord's name.

* * *

Discord was flying to Twilight's castle, he knew he could just teleport to her castle, but wanted a breather. Once he got there, he didn't bother knocking and just walked right through the doors.

He was trotting along her crystally hallway when Rainbow Dash flew right past him, into the throne room. He followed her rainbow trail since he didn't quite know his way around yet.

When he opened the doors, he saw that all of them were present except for Rarity. He slowly trotted over to Fluttershy's throne and sat carefully in it, once again, admiring her cutie mark.

"Sorry I'm late," Rarity said, rushing through the doors. She was wearing a light blue winter cape with a fluffy white fringe. The other four ponies just stared at her. Rarity noticed the odd expressions she was getting.

"What? Are we not going to rescue her?" they didn't say a thing, she just rolled her eyes. "Well don't come complaining to me when you are all freezing, although that won't happen because..." she pulled out a rack from behind the door that held six other capes. She held up an orange one and handed it to Applejack, hot pink for Pinkie, dark blue with a yellow lightning bolt at the front for Rainbow, Violet for Twilight, a soft and light pink one for Fluttershy considering they rescued her, and she even made a light grey one for Discord.

"Here you are darling, it was hard to find a mannequin with your unique...umm. You know," she said, handing him his new robe. All of the robes had a white and fluffy fringe at the bottom.

"Yeah...I know," he said, getting he had been getting used to the fact that he was...different. He stared at Fluttershy's coat and wished dearly to see her appear inside it.

"Umm...thank you Rarity, but first. Everypony!" she stomped her hoof on the table. They all turned to her.

"We really need some sort of strategy. There's a lot between us and Fluttershy."

"Yeah, I mean like we have the snow storm, that really really big and powerful forcefield, Sombra's defenses and dark magic, and then we have to do all that again I mean we don't even know where in the Castle she could be and like it's gonna be really really hard," Pinkie said, fairly fast.

"Thank you for summing that up Pinkie," Twilight gritted between her teeth.

"What about Discord?" Applejack asked. Discord raised his head and looked around.

"Eh?"

"Ya got powerful magic, once we get through the barrier can't ya just teleport her right to us?"

"I would have to know where she is and wherever she is in the castle I'm sure that room is probably guarded with more magic. Sombra's careful and cautious and very powerful. The love of an entire empire is a hard magic to beat." He sighed and looked down.

"But...then how did you teleport yourself to her before? Surely you did not just guess and had good luck on your side?" Rarity added.

"Because it has to be a location that I've been in before, even when I did teleport to her it only took me to the Icy Tundra."

"Oooooh...well anyway, with all that power he has, Sombra doesn't channel that magic very well," Pinkie said. This caused Twilight to open her eyes wide.

"What is it darling?"

"Say that again Pinkie."

"Umm...Sombra doesn't channel that magic very well?"

"Exactly. He can't control love magic properly because of his dark magic. The two get confused. If we could somehow rid him of that love magic...Cadance!" Twilight remembered that the very ruler of the Crystal Empire was just a few doors down.

"I'll be right back everypony!" Twilight said, running out of the room. There was an awkward silence in the room until Pinkie broke it.

"Anypony wanna play charades?"

"Uhh, I don't think Twi will take too long Pinkie," Applejack said. As if on cue, Twilighting walked in with Cadance. Pinkie pouted.

"Good morning," Cadance said.

"Morning Princess," Applejack said.

"Please, call me Princess Mi Amore Cadenza..." everpony stared at her,"I'm just kidding," she laughed, "Cadance is fine."

Everypony laughed except Discord, not getting the reference.

"Sorry to intrude on this inside joke but I'm afraid there is an Element of Kindness trapped inside the Crystal Empire which has been taken over by King Sombra," Discord said, unamused.

"Right, sorry. So in order to get past the barrier, you must use a strong magic for he has the love of the Empire along with his previous black magic."

"What about the Crystal Heart?" Rainbow asked.

"We haven't seen it since our first attempt to use it against him," Cadance said.

"He probably hid it somewhere in the castle again," Pinkie said. Discord's eyes lit up.

"No..."

"What?" Rainbow looked at him, confused.

"You say that's what he did last time, right?" They nodded.

"I know where it is," he said. Everpony stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"Oh come on...where is it?" Rainbow asked growing impatient.

"Do you all remember that necklace she was wearing?" he asked. Their eyes widened.

"It was a red crystal heart," Twilight whispered.

"Ugh, how could I have been so stupid," she said, putting her head into her hoofs.

"Twilight, it's ok. This is not your fault," Cadance comforted. Twilight sniffled and took a deep breath, ignoring what Cadance had said. She continued.

"What do we know about the Crystal Heart?" Twilight looked at her sister-in-law.

"It uses the love of the Crystal Ponies to protect the Empire and its citizens."

"So what were to happen if it were cast under a dark spell and surrounded one pony?" Rarity asked.

"I...I'm not sure. It would probably absorb that pony's magic and love and...umm," she didn't really know.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "but since we know that it's Fluttershy, it will absorb her love and her light."  
They just stared at her, they already knew that he was planning on taking her magic but he had been doing it even before she had gotten there.

"How long would ya suppose it would take until all er magic was gone?" Applejack asked.

"Well the crystal heart only uses love magic and since Fluttershy is the element of kindness it won't absorb that. But taking her love will definitely weaken her, making it easier for him to take all of her magic, especially her kindness. Since it seems thats what he's after."

"But why? I mean, I know that we wouldn't be able to use the Elements against him. But whats stopping him from just...killing her?" Rainbow said, afraid of the loss of Fluttershy.

"I don't really know much about the elements...but I think I know who might," Cadance added.

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"Celestia, she bore all of the elements at one point, didn't she?"

"Oh yeah, she should know all about the elements and their freaky deaky magic," Pinkie said.

"But what if even she can't answer our questions?" Discord asked.

"Well I bet there's lots of books?" Twilight squeed. Discord just sighed and mind slapped himself. _What is it with her and books?_ he thought.


	17. Chapter 17: We Need Dark Magic

"Yay, egghead here wants to study and read Sombra to death," Rainbow said said sarcastically. Discord snickered behind her, enjoying the comment, despite his anger towards the rainbow pegasus. Twilight faced her and was unamused.

"May I remind you that _I_ was the one to show you Daring Do?" Twilight added.

"Yeah well, that book is awesome! Unlike your boring _Learn About History_ books."

"Hey! At least those books are useful!"

"Yeah well-"

"Ladies, sorry to interrupt this hilarious quarrel but we have a pegasus in the hands of King Sombra at the moment. As much as I would love to watch Twilight be insulted, we should really get going," Discord chimed in. Twilight turned to him.

"Hey!" she shot. Discord put his claw and paw up, trying to say _sorry_ but not meaning it.

"I think we should go see Celestia," Cadance said, before things got out of hoof.

"Right," Twilight took a deep breath, "if we're lucky, we can catch the train."

"Umm, hello?" Discord said, making a big red floating arrow appear that pointed to him.

"Oh...right," Twilight said. Discord snapped his paw and they were in the throne room of Canterlot Castle.

"Well...that was...useful," Twilight admitted it.

"Well, I'm not exactly fond of taking my time while Fluttershy could be...you know," he said, saddening at the thought of her. He imagined her weak, drained like her clone, sprawled across the floor with her mane tangled up and she would just lay there...completely still. He shuddered.  
Celestia walked into the room, surprised to see her prized pupil, Cadance, Discord and most of her friends.

"Where is Fluttershy?"

"You didn't tell her?" Discord stared at Twilight, shocked that she left out that detail. Cadance stepped forward.

"Umm...while we were evacuating the Crystal Empire Fluttershy didn't...make it," she bowed her head.

"Oh...is she alright?" she faced Twilight, who was full of disappointment in herself.

"We...we aren't sure. But...um we've come to ask you a few questions about the Elements of Harmony."

"I see...such as?"

"Well, first off you should know that, that necklace she was wearing when we came to you was the crystal heart or maybe a part of it." Twilight had just realized that the gem on her necklace was far too small to be the entire crystal heart.

"Sombra put the necklace on her and he's going to," Pinkie made a sucking sound with her mouth, "...all her magic away."

"But the Crystal Heart will only take her love, he put a spell on it so it will do evil instead of good," Rarity added.

"If he takes her love how long do ya suppose it'll take before he gets to er kindness, ya know her element?"

"After my many moons of carrying the elements I have learned much and I think I may be able to help. If what you say is true and he is planning on ridding her of her magic, it will take much more than just a piece of the Crystal Heart. She is an element of harmony and the roots of her magic, kindness, go deep. She knows how and does a very good job of embracing her element."

 _That's one of the things I love about her._ Discord thought.

"It will be hard for him to take that away from her, as long as she is strong enough to hold onto it. If she doesn't willingly give up her magic, he can't take it and Sombra knows this."

"How will he know when we can? It's not like she's just gonna say "hey, I'm giving you my magic now"," Rainbow said.

"He will know. She would look weakened and vulnerable," Celestia tried to explain. Rainbow nodded slowly.

"But she would never do that right?" Rarity wondered aloud.

"Well...it depends. It is her choice, and I don't believe Fluttershy would ever agree to give up her element but..."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Never mind," she wanted them to forgot about her being unsure.

"So...about breaking that barrier?" Applejack wondered.

"There is sure to be something on that kind of magic in the Royal Canterlot Library," Celestia said. Twilight's eyes lit up.

"But...I thought there wasn't much information on the Crystal Empire?" Twilight pointed out.

"Since the Empire was discovered, some of the books from the Crystal Library were brought here. To...increase our knowledge," Celestia notified. Twilight nodded.

"Where do you suppose he hid the rest of the Crystal Heart?" Cadance asked.

"It is as much a mystery to me as it is you." she nodded. "Now go, I trust you will find enough information to free Fluttershy," Celestia shooed them off.

"Thank you princess," Twilight bowed.

"You are very much welcome...princess," Celestia said as she too took a bow. Twilight blushed.

"Now go, not a moment to lose," she said. Twilight nodded and ran off with her five friends while Cadance stayed back to talk to Princess Celestia. She approached the Sun Princess.

"How long do you suppose she will last?"

"I'm not sure but I do know that Fluttershy is stronger than she appears."

"How?"

"She reformed the spirit of chaos and disharmony. If that is not justified as evidence then I don't know what is," Celestia smiled. Cadance smiled and turned away to the doors.

"Are you not going to help Twilight and the others?" Celestia wondered.

"I have to get back to Shining and Flurry. We both need each other right now, especially considering Flurry's magic."  
Celestia nodded and grinned, Cadance returned her kindness and also gave a smile. Kindness seemed to be buried within everypony but it just seemed Fluttershy was more used to the approach.

Twilight led the others to the Canterlot Library, where she remembered spending most of her time.

Discord stared at the large library and watched as the five ponies in front of him spread out in different directions. He started to walk towards a shelf of books when he stopped in his tracks. He shook his head but he still had this strange feeling in his head. He looked around himself and realized that the windows around him were no longer showing what lay beyond them but instead it was showing memories from his past. He stared at each one of them, one of them showed when he was defeated by Princess Celestia and Luna, another was when he had been spreading chaos while attempting his second attack on Equestria, one where he had been taunting the main six. _Fluttershy was the only one who couldn't be persuaded to darkness._ He remembered whilst the memories flooded his head. He even saw the one where he had joined Tirek and betrayed his 'friends' including the pony who he had begun to have stronger feelings for at the time. His eyes widened at that memory, he would never forgive himself for that.  
Then something sweet and melodic followed through his thoughts but the voice sounded distraught and broken.

"I...I will do it."  
He recognized the voice.

"Fluttershy," he said under his breath which broke him from his thoughts. He was back to reality and could think clearly but out of the corner of his eye, he could see an all too familiar serpent tail escape out of the corner of the window.

"What?" he asked himself quietly.

"Discord!" Twilight had apparently been shouting at him the entire time.

"Hmm?" he looked down at her.

"Why didn't you answer me!?"

"Maybe I don't like ponies shouting at me," he stuck his tongue out at her with his arms folded and made his way, finally, to the shelf. Twilight just rolled her eyes.  
He scanned the shelf and ran his paw along the books with his mind elsewhere. _Fluttershy. Fluttershy. Fluttershy._ His paw stopped. He eyed a book that was titled The Magic of the Crystal Empire.  
He whistled to get everypony's attention.

"What? Did you find something?" Rainbow asked as she dropped the books in her hooves.

"Watch it Rainbow Dash, you might get dust on my _white_ coat," Rarity complained.

"Yes, actually I did. See, I can be helpful."

"Yeah, when you actually want ta," Applejack, muttered under her breath, apparently Discord still heard.

"Yes, yes I can and right now I would really like to save a certain yellow pegasus but it seems you _ponies_ are too busy complaining about dust and my helping abilities."

"Alright, alright. Calm ya barrels."

"Anyway...what did you find?" Twilight asked, not eager to hear her friends bicker. Discord held up the book and teleported to a desk in the middle of the room. He put the book atop the table and pulled glasses out of nowhere and placed them atop his nose.  
Twilight walked over and used her magic to flip through pages.

"F, F, F," she muttered.

"What does f stand for?" Applejack asked.

"Why forcefield of coarse silly," Pinkie said in her high pitched voice.

"Ah ha," Twilight said. Everypony eyed the page she stared at.

"How to break...ah ok. A forcefield made of Crystal Magic may only be broken by the creator and ponies may only pass through who have a good and pure soul," she finished reading the sentence and looked at the faces around her.

"Well that don't exactly do us any good now does it?" Applejack stated. Twilight thought for a moment and everypony except Discord backed up until Rainbow pushed him backward a few steps.

"What?" he asked.

"She's thinking," Rainbow said.

"Well no duh. But why do we have to back up?"

"Ah," Twilight said and shot her hooves in the air.

"Oh," Discord said. Rainbow nodded and flew slowly back over to her.

"What is it brainyack?" Rainbow tried to say with a serious expression. Twilight just glared at her and took a breath.

"The forcefield that Sombra made is used with this spell _and_ dark magic," she explained.

"Sooo...," Rainbow began but didn't know what she was supposed to say next.

"Ugh, somepony find me a book on dark magic."

"Okey dokey lokey," Pinkie said as she hopped towards the 'D' shelf. She came back moments later with a black book that had green letters. Twilight levitated the book with her magic and placed it beside the crystal one.  
She flipped the pages to the 'F' section of the contents.

"Ok," she whispered.

"Breaking...A forcefield made of dark magic may only be broken by the wielder or ponies may pass through if they are truly evil and have villainous traits," she stopped reading.

"If he is using dark magic and being as careful as he can then we will only be able to cross if our hearts are dark," Twilight said and sighed as she snapped the book closed.

"But none of us are evil...wait what about Discord?" Pinkie pointed. Discord's eyes widened and he pointed to himself with a questioning look on his face.

"Me? But...I'm not evil anymore, let alone, have a purely dark heart."  
All their heads dropped.

"If we were to send somepony across to help, it would have to be a villain and I don't think any villains are willing to help us _save_ a bearer of the elements of harmony," Rarity said.

"Discord...couldn't you just become evil...like right now and just go get her or something?" Rainbow asked. Discord gave her a look that meant _really?_ She shrugged and said,"Worth a shot."

"I want to help her in any way I can but I can't just give back into darkness, just like that. I mean sure...I enjoyed being chaotic and free but I'm a changed draconequus, ever since...since...Flutters."  
The room went quiet for a few seconds.

"Wow...I think what you mean is that ever since you met Flutters you've been a real sap," Rainbow said rudely. Discord shot her a glare.

"Rainbow!" Twilight said quickly.

"What? It's true."

"Seriously, what do you want!? When I was evil, you hated me, now I'm not evil and you hate me, and now you hate me because I'm not evil!?"

"Well, sorry but I just think that you would be a lot more useful right now if you would just suck it up and be evil for like 5 seconds. But, don't get any ideas."

"What are you talking about?" he said, softly but with anger in his voice.

"Well, if you _were_ to go evil to get through the barrier, how do we know that you won't just join Sombra? It would be the perfect opportunity, after all once Fluttershy was...dead, we wouldn't be able to turn you to stone and you could rule Equestria again," she finished. Discord was distraught. Rainbow actually had the nerve to believe that _he, Discord,_ would kill _her, Fluttershy._ He loved Fluttershy with every ounce of chaos in his body and Rainbow was assuming that he would actually end her? She thought that Discord would have the guts to betray Equestria and destroy Fluttershy in the process, literally?  
He shot Rainbow a look that made her take a step back.

"You got some nerve, Rainbow," he said, he had a few other thoughts but really didn't want to break out into a rage, he NEEDED this time to research.

"Oh, come on. Like you haven't even thought about that once. You'd love to be free and reign chaos wherever you went right? Right?" she said taking a step closer each time.

"Rainbow, don't," Twilight tried to calm her down.

"No, let her," Discord mustered. Twilight was astonished and stepped backward. Rainbow had been watching Twilight but was now focussed on Discord.

"Fluttershy was my first friend out of us six. If you were to harm her-"

"I would _never_ harm her," he said, interrupting her.

"You sound so sure, but how do we really know you're not just playing us?!"

"I would never do that, I would never joke about Fluttershy's safety."

"Oh yeah? What about Tirek? We didn't fully think you had changed but Flutttershy...Fluttershy did, and...and you-" Rainbow was starting to hold back tears.

"Stop! Just stop. You don't think I regret that moment every second of my life! I have never and will never forgive myself for what I did to you girls, especially Fluttershy!" Discord was getting angrier and sadder by the second.

"You...you can't break her heart...again," Rainbow was staring down at the floor, fighting the salty liquid coming from in front of her cornea.

"I...I didn't mean to! I didn't realize how much she meant to me, but now I do," now he was holding back his tears along with his burning rage towards the rainbow maned pegasus.

"Really?! You really know?!" she started screaming.

"Yes, yes I do!" he shot back.

"How much then! Tell us, tell all of us right here, right now!"  
He was silent.

"TELL US! HOW MUCH DOES FLUTTERSHY MEAN TO YOU!"

"I LOVE HER!" he shouted. He immediately paled and turned his back to her.

"I love her, I love Fluttershy," he whispered.

Rainbow's face was blank, she didn't have any idea how to react. Twilight, thankfully, broke the silence.

"Discord I'm sorry...I didn't mean to cause an outburst. Maybe we should spend the night at the castle, night will fall soon and I don't even think any of us have eaten yet. We can sleep and eat here and then we will figure out this situation tomorrow," she looked to everypony who nodded, including Discord but his back was facing her and he only nodded slightly.

"See you tomorrow," he muttered and then vanished to his home.

"Come on girls," Twilight said as they exited the library.

* * *

Discord was in his living room, he got himself cotton candy, a bowl of paper and a chocolate milkshake. He satin his large sofa and placed the food in front of him.

"Oh Fluttershy," he sighed.

"Discord," a voice whispered. He turned his head around to find no one there. He shrugged, thinking it had been his imagination.

"Discord," it said once again. He turned to find that Fluttershy's door was slowly beginning to open. He slowly got up and crept toward the door, he peered into the room and used his magic to turn the light on. He then fully walked into the room and came face to face with a mirror. This mirror reflected that of his personality many years ago, cruel, evil, heartless and chaotic.

"Hello old friend," his reflection sneered.

* * *

I am SO sorry this took so long. I got really busy and kept trying to find the time to do this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	18. Chapter 18: Dreams

Discord watched...stared...thought. He just kept glaring at the reflection in front of him and all he managed to say was, "How?"  
His doppelgänger laughed maniacally at him. Discord backed away.

"You didn't really think that you could escape me...did you?"  
The real Discord stood, speechless.

"I...I don't understand."

"When that weak and shy little pegasus _reformed_ you," he made quotation marks with his paw and claw,"I, your true form, got bored and separated myself from a certain part of your mind. Now, I have total control over your subconscious. When, of course I feel it's needed."

"But Fluttershy reformed me almost a year ago...why are you just showing up now?"

"Because of your sudden outbursts of course. You see, you haven't been this mad in a millennium. Ever since that Sombra guy came around you've been losing patience and your temper. Why you've been yelling all week, not to mention crying and being all sappy."

Discord glared at his old self.

"So what...I'm not allowed to get mad or something?" Discord asked.

"Well, I've always been a part of you and I always will be but I truly think," the opposite Discord started to reach his paw through the mirror towards Discord,"that you should embrace the chaotic side of you," soon his face was out and it neared Discord's ear,"the side...that wants to be free."  
His paw gripped Discord's arm and he had a bunch of flashbacks. They were all moments when he took over Equestria, both times. The images and scenes moved quickly but it all slowed down once he saw the one memory, again, of Fluttershy crying.

 _"Surely you saw this coming?" past-Discord asked._

 _"I didn't...I really didn't," she sobbed into Applejack's fur._

"You are evil...are and always will be," the evil voice echoed throughout him.

"No...no," he muttered.

 _"Discord!"_ everything came to a halt. The images stopped moving completely and all was quiet. All Discord could see was dark, black.

"Hello?" he called.

 _"Discord...please don't do this. I love him, I'll do...anything," she said the last part quietly._

"Fluttershy?" Discord called out. There was a long silence, he waited a few minutes until he heard his own voice but he hadn't said a word.

 _"Fluttershy don't!" the voice echoed._

 _"I'm sorry, but...but this is the only way."_

 _"No...no...please...Fluttershy."_

 _"Discord," she whispered softly._

 _"FLUTTERSHY!"_

Discord awoke with a start. His eyes were wide open, he was lying on the floor in the room he had made for Fluttershy. His evil reflection was gone. now all that was reflected was the startled look on his own face.

"Fluttershy," he said softly. He rested his head in his paw and claw and gave a deep sigh.

His dark side's words still bounced around in his head as he, also, thought about Fluttershy.

 _"You are evil...are and always will be."  
"-embrace the chaotic side of you."_

 _I might have to._ He thought. He continued to sit in Fluttershy's dim lit room, it was only 1:00 in the morning and the girls would and him would meet in a few hours. He curled up on her floor and looked at his mirror one last time.  
Discord waved his paw, releasing magic from his finger tips that swirled around the mirror.

He could see into Fluttershy's _bedroom_ in the Crystal Empire. He expected her to be asleep but she was awake, staring out the window, at the moon. He could only see her, now shaded, pink mane and butter coat. He saw something behind her that glistened in the moonlight, tears. It looked as though this pony had been crying for a few straight hours.  
She turned her head to face the bed, but only stared at it showing no expression. She seemed abnormally calm. Her head faced back to the bars that kept her from the outside world.

Then a noise approached behind her, it was the sound of her door opening, but she didn't flinch. She kept a straight face and just continued to stare at the stars. Sombra's hoofsteps were heard louder as he neared Fluttershy. Discord glared at the grey, armoured hooves. Soon enough he could see all of Sombra. Fluttershy knew who it was, so she didn't bother to ask or acknowledge his presence. She just wanted him gone.

"You're up late my flower. You should get your rest."  
Fluttershy didn't say a word and just ignored his gaze, keeping her eyes fixed on the clouds, moon and stars. It reminded her of Princess Luna.

Sombra crept closer to her.

"Come now, don't ignore me. Why, you even said 'thank you' a while ago. I would think that meant progress."  
Discord spread a questioning look on his face and even gave a ghost of a smile. _She just can't help but give in to her element.  
_ That smile disappeared however, when Sombra put his hoof to the back of her head. He slowly ran his hoof down, through her pink hair. Fluttershy still didn't budge. Sombra kept trying to get her attention so he decided to keep toying with her.

"You're quite a lovely sight, my flower."  
Fluttershy's eyes almost widened but she still maintained her composure. He brushed his hoof along her mane again and again, he moved it to one side of her shoulder where he could see the black collar of the necklace.

"My, isn't it such a nice necklace," he said to himself and some what to Fluttershy as he put his left hoof to feel the cold chain. This made Fluttershy, unnoticeably, bite her lip and close her eyes.  
He then carefully caressed her neck and ran his hoof down her back side all the way to her tail, which made it swish back and forth. Discord watched in disgust and anger. _How dare he touch her that way!_

Sombra lifted his hoof up towards Fluttershy's chin and made it so it looked as if her head were in his hoof. He slowly turned her head towards him, she was then staring right into his eyes. Her face and expressions were silent.

"Such pretty eyes," he leaned towards her ear,"so much potential," he whispered, then moving his head back to its previous position. He leaned towards her and put his lips to her cheek. Fluttershy just sat there, she closed her eyes as a single tear escaped from her eyelids. She could've ran but she didn't, she could've stopped him but she didn't. Something within her just didn't have the strength anymore to fight back against his strange wants. She did not flinch and did not move.  
Discord stared, furious. What was he to do? There wasn't much he could do.  
Sombra eventually moved away and and put his hoof back under her chin. Her eyes were focused on the ground, for she did not want to look at him. He raised her head a small amount.

"Yes, so much potential and yet you cannot channel it towards something great, but..." he again whispered something in her ear,"I will."  
He dropped her head from his hoof, turned away from her and walked out the door, shutting it with a large "bang" sound.

As soon as Fluttershy could no longer hear his hoofprints, Fluttershy went to the edge of the bed and took a pillow off with her teeth. She raised it up and slammed it down on the ground again and again and again until the feathers started to come out. She was now beating an empty pillow case, but her beatings got slower. She finally threw it to the ground one more time and fell down along with it and started sobbing, hard, really hard. She curled up on the floor and hugged her knees.

"D, i, i ,i, s, s, s, c, c, c, c, o, o, o, o, r, r, r, r, d, d, d, d, d!" she sobbed over and over again, choking on her cries each time.

"I, I, I, I'm s, s, s, s, s, o, o, o, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, y, y, y, y!"  
Discord couldn't believe what he was seeing. Fluttershy was seriously, mentally, physically and emotionally breaking down. It was as if she had never truly let out pure anger and sadness before and now it was happening, after all these years. It was like if all her negative emotions were bottled up and now it was full, bursting right before his eyes. Sombra had made her whole body give up on her, for any sign of fighting back. It was as if she was completely defenseless.  
As Discord heard her cry out his name, he couldn't help but feel his heart start to break, especially since he knew there was no way to help her.

Discord watched her cry for 2 hours straight. After that amount of time she eventually cried herself to sleep upon the floor as the many feathers were scattered around her. Fluttershy's cheeks were drenched, there was a pool of water that flooded around her body and her hair had now become a tangled mess. Discord felt an emptiness inside him, there was a large sickening feeling in his throat and a pain in his heart, that for almost his entire life he didn't think he had. Fluttershy was the only mare to ever reach his heart, (and without him, yet knowing) give him hers. For she too had never loved anypony, she was always the outcast and the slow flyer, she was never deemed worthy of love. Fluttershy had told Discord this, over their many tea parties, and many more things about her past and so did Discord.

He missed her deeply and even though she was right in front of him, he still didn't feel like she was truly there. He was about to get rid of his spell on the mirror when he heard her mumble in her sleep.  
He couldn't hear what she said but she sounded calm and almost happy. Thats when an idea popped into his head.

"Yes," was all he could say. He undid his spell and teleported to Canterlot Castle.

* * *

"Luna!" he called. He was in the throne room, when he got no response he shouted again.

"Luuunnnaa!"  
Soon Luna flew inside from an open window.

"What does thou want that had to distract us from thy night?" the princess of the night bellowed.

"I need you to go into Fluttershy's dreams!"  
Luna looked shocked by this.

"Why? Has something bad happened to thy dear Fluttershy?"

 _Has nopony told her yet either?_ Discord wondered.

"Did you seriously not hear about Fluttershy's current situation in the Crystal Empire?"

"What is thou telling us?"

"Fluttershy was kidnapped by Sombra and I need...," he mumbled the last part.

"Pardon?"

"I need your...," he did it again.

"Once more please?"

"I NEED YOUR HELP!" he said quite loudly.

"Ah. We thank thee for speaking more clearly but next time do keep thy voice low. For our sister is trying to sleep."

"Right," he stretched that word,"now not a momento to loseo." He said funnily. Luna slowly nodded and her horn started beaming with magic. She then vanished. All Discord could do now was wait.

Luna appeared in Fluttershy's dream. Everything was pitch black except for one part of light that shone upon Fluttershy leaning over what seemed to be a dying version of Discord.

"No...please. You can't leave me," she cried while holding his paw to her chest.

"Your turn Fluttershy," an evil looking Sombra said as he approached her.

"No...get away. Please, just leave me alone," she said as she grabbed onto Discord's chest.

"Goodbye Fluttershy," he raised his head and was about to blast her with a ray of magic but was too late, for Luna was quicker. A bright light shone and soon Discord and Sombra were gone, Fluttershy was now in what seemed to be outers pace except it was blue, she could walk and stand on it and there were bright white stars all around her. She lifted her head around to see Luna.

"Princess Luna?" she said, stunned.

"Indeed child."

"But Sombra...wait, am I dreaming?"

"Correct my dear Fluttershy. We were unaware of your capture until Discord sent us here to...-"

"Discord?" her eyes lit up,"is he alright?"

"I am not sure. I only saw he a few minutes ago. He is currently at Canterlot Castle awaiting our return with news of you."

"Oh."

"Are you alright?"

"Well...umm...uh...*sigh. No. I miss Discord so much and King Sombra is just...just awful," Fluttershy admitted crouching down.

"What has he done to make thou so uneasy?"

"Well he did kidnap me. An old relative of mine signed a contract that binded me to Sombra. He either hits me, throws me, hurts me or kisses me when he's mad," she made a gagging face and Luna just stood, a bit confused,"and he is just so rude. No, he's worse, he's evil." She said rather calmly and looked down at her hooves.

"I see...keep dreaming dear Fluttershy. We shall return," Luna said as she started to disappear.

"No wait...please!" but it was too late and Fluttershy was alone again.

Luna appeared in front of a sleepy draconequus.

"Well?" he asked.

"What is it thou wishes to know?"

"How is she? What has he done to her? Is she alright? What does he plan to do next? Does he have a weakness? If so what is-"

"Calm yourself. For maybe there is a way for you to get those answers yourself?" she put a hoof to her chin.

"Discord, thou must fall asleep."

"But why?"

"Please. Not time to argue."  
Discord gave her an unsure look but eventually nestled down on the ground. A few moments later he was sound asleep. Luna sighed and flew up into the air, illuminating her horn.

"I hope this works."

* * *

Discord looked around. He was in the dark.

"Hello?" he called.

"Please, go away. You aren't real, you aren't real." Discord knew that voice from anywhere.

"Fluttershy?"  
Discord couldn't see her but Fluttershy heard him and her eyes lit up.

"Discord!?" she called back. The fake image of Sombra disappeared as Fluttershy began running aimlessly through the dark.

"Discord?" where are you.

"I'm right here!" he shouted.

"Oh, I wish it was brighter," her wish came true and now, all was white. She could see clearly but still couldn't see Discord.

"Fluttershy? Is it really you?" he asked. His voice seemed so close but she still couldn't see him.

"Y...yes it's me but where are you?" she called. She backed up a bit more and felt a strange feeling go through her but once that feeling passed, she realized that a tall figure stood in front of her. She looked up and Discord's head came down. They stared eye to eye at each other. She sniffled and wiped away a tear.

"A...are you real?" she leaned her hoof out to touch him but her hoof went through instead of making contact with his fur. She sighed.

"I guess not," her head drooped.

"No...Fluttershy it really is me. I think Princess moon out there linked our dreams."  
Her smiled returned.

"Th...then why can't I touch you?" she wanted to feel him so badly, she wanted to nustle his fur, hug him, kiss him, love him. And he wanted so badly to hold her in his arms.

"I...I think it's because of the barrier surrounding the Crystal Empire and Smobra's magic. He probably guessed that we figure out a way to communicate with you."  
She sighed.

"I'm just glad you're hear. I missed you so much," her head dropped.

"I know...me too. What has he done to you so far?" Discord asked quickly giving a stern face.

"There's much to say, honestly." That reminded her of Applejack.

"Well umm...what do you know already?"

"I know about the whole contract thing and oh!"

"What?"

"Twilight found a loop hole in the contract, don't question how I mean she is Twilight. She said," Discord's head turned to match Twilight's facial colours,"Fluttershy must _agree_ and follow the rules Sombra will ask of her," his head then retracted to normal.

"That is what it said in the contract. So unless you agree to his rules, he has no legal claim over you. Princess Smarty Pants said so," he smirked. Fluttershy's eyes widened.

"But I don't think he'll let me go just because I tell him the contract is flawed and if I do, he'll know I had contact with another pony or...draconeqi. He'll punish me or even worse, you!" she said worriedly. Discord was shocked by this.

"What in the name of Celestia makes you think that my pain is more important than yours?"

"Well this _is_ my fault. I couldn't live with myself if I knew you got hurt because of me."  
He gave a small chuckle and felt something spark inside him.

"Too late for that," he said. She stared up at him.

"What do you mean? Has he hurt you _already_?" she asked, scared.

"Well Fluttershy...you should know that being without you is already hurting me enough. Every time he has...touched you, quite a few times actually, it breaks my heart."

"Wh...why?"  
He sighed.

"Darkness is what turned me evil, I'm familiar with it, and now I know there's a chance that I could lose you to it. I...It just." He stopped. He needed to take a breath. "And be...because, you mean a lot to me Fluttershy, I mean, you were my first friend, the first pony to show me kindness and actually accept me for what I am and what I've done...you even forgave me after I...I betrayed you," he turned his head away.

"Discord, I know how hard it is to leave everything you've ever know. For you, it was chaos and it was probably very difficult for you to let that part of you go. Sure, you may have done bad things in the past but...but we all have things we regret. I forgave you because I knew how hard it would've been to refuse a chance to be who you are...I mean, you've been given magic restrictions and limitations. I understood and I still do. I forgive you Discord and I hope you can learn to forgive me for what I've put you through."

"Oh Fluttershy of course I do," he knelt down on one knee to be closer to her height, but still towered over her. "I know this probably would've happened either way and you had no choice, you couldn't just let Sombra take over the Crystal Empire. I...I just feel bad because...because I still _feel_ like it's my fault. I promised you, Fluttershy, I promised you that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. And now, I could lose you," he bowed his head and took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry Discord. Please don't blame yourself, this is all Sombra's and my own fault...Maybe you would've been better off if we never met," Discord looked at her, listening and concerned,"If you had taken over and my friends and I had defeated you, maybe you would've been in less pain if you had just remained in stone. I probably still would've been taken by Sombra but then at least you wouldn't have cared and be hurting so much," she started crying, "D...Discord. I wa...I want you to forget about me. I want you to-"  
He cut her off.

"Fluttershy, do you even hear yourself?! No matter how much pain I'm in, I would never regret meeting you...ever. And _you_ can forget about me forgetting you because that is truly impossible my dear. Besides even if my memory was some how erased, I would have those hundreds of pictures of us on my wall at home." He smiled. He knelt down so they were face to face. He wanted to wipe away her tears but knew he couldn't.

"I don't think I could avoid you either way, my dear. Don't you ever feel like you could've spared me because I know somehow in someway, I would end up fighting for you still. No matter what."  
He gave her a reassuring smiled as she sniffled.

"Thank you Discord. I know I could never replace you either. I...wh...what's happening to you?" she asked worried. Discord's body was starting to fade away.

"It's ok, I'm just waking up. Goodbye Fluttershy, I hope to see you again," he watched as she grew farther away and her beautiful pink hair whipped in the wind.

"Me too," she whispered.

* * *

Discord awoke on the floor of the throne room as Princess Luna stared down at him with sweat running down her cheek.

"Thank you."


	19. Chapter 19: Angel the Chatterbox

AUTHORS NOTE: I changed a LOT from the past chapters from chapter 12-now. Basically, now, Discord and Fluttershy have not kissed or confessed their love for one another yet. Rainbow still doesn't trust Discord but she is only refusing him because she doesn't want Fluttershy to get hurt. Fluttershy has not been kissed by anypony, including Sombra. I changed the bad grammar (hopefully) and removed the swear words. So if anything in this chapter is confusing, you can (if you want) skim through chapters 12-18. SO SORRY this is taking so long!  
I'm sorry if you don't like the changes but I like it better this way. If you do then, great! Enjoy!

* * *

Fluttershy stared at the spot where Discord used to stand. There was so much more she wanted to tell him that she was afraid she'd never be able to say. She recalled her earlier moments of crying in her room and...Sombra. She felt like a puppet around him, like a mouse he enjoyed toying with. When she had broken down in her "room" she felt like drowning herself within the pond she had made. Fluttershy felt so alone, she knew well that she could awaken at any time and that she was dreaming, but she felt safer in her dream and did not want that feeling to be taken away.

But the moments she had felt the safest were in Discord's arms. He was so gentile and warm, he held her like she was something precious and had deep meaning to him. Staring at the space of white that surrounded her, she sat down and sighed. She needed to tell him, sooner or later. She might never get the chance to let him know of her true feelings towards him. Did _she_ even know what her feelings were towards him? What if he didn't feel the same way?  
She recalled the time in his home where he told her that he did, in fact, love her, but what if he meant as a friend and nothing more? She was probably over thinking it and it was not exactly her biggest problem at the moment.

She was sitting in her big wide galaxy of imagination. She recalled memories of Discord and watched as they all surrounded her. When she called him a friend, when she first reformed him, the night and day incident, the gala, when he thought that the two of them were going on a vacation together and...she had never truly seen this one before. It wasn't a memory but it was a moment of Discord.

 _Starlight was standing with Trixie and Thorax and Discord, it looked like he had been up to some chaos. Starlight started speaking but part of her speech was cut off._

 _"-Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armour, Flurry Heart, Twilight and her friends," as Starlight had said this, Discord had been yawning and not appearing to care until she said that last part. His eyes widened and he changed the scenery back to normal._

 _"They took Fluttershy?" he leaned in, close to Starlight and had a stern look on his face, which was rare for Discord, it seemed like he never took anything seriously._

 _"Yes," she replied. His eyes glowed._

 _"Where?" he glowered._

 _"The Changeling Kingdom, with on our side-" she was cut off by the sound of Discord snapping his claws. They appeared on the outskirts of the home of the changelings._

 _"Odd," Discord said._

 _"I was trying to take us right to Fluttershy but," he said lifting up a rock, "there is no Fluttershy," his eyes stretched from their sockets and looked over the ground._

The image faded and a new one appeared, Fluttershy was still blushing from the previous slide. _Wow_ , was all she could think.

 _She soon heard her own voice but it sounded like she was crying._

 _"Please, help," a decoy of Fluttershy said._

 _"Fluttershy!" Discord said happily, throwing his arms in the air. He rushed over to her._

 _"Discord!" she looked up happily, "I'm stuck."_

 _"You most certainly are and I should probably help you get free," he said leaning closer to her. But then retracted._

 _"But...Oh oh oh oh," he said, shaking his index finger._

 _"But what?" the fake Fluttershy asked._

 _"But you are obviously NOT Fluttershy!" he said putting a finger to her nose._

 _"Oh," she said, defeatedly._

 _"I mean, I'm separated from the group and just happen to come across the ONE pony I care MOST about-" the rest of the scene was a blur._

Fluttershy kept replaying that moment again and again in her head. _The one pony I care most about._ She felt a smile escape her lips.

"Oh, Discord. I'm so sorry."  
He truly did care for her, even then. He was such a sweetheart when he wanted to be. She loved him for that. She never thought of herself as a pony to fall in love. When she was younger, she was always teased and was such a weak flyer. She didn't think that there would be anypony that she would ever care for in that way, let alone have them return her feelings. She was right, because Discord wasn't a pony, but a draconequus. "The best one" he had once said. She smiled at the thought and knew that even though she had just seen him a while ago, it didn't feel real and missed him deeply. She gave a small yawn.  
She may have been asleep but she still felt tired. She decided to think of a sunny meadow to lay in. Since this was her dream, her wish was granted and she just lay there, basking in sunlight, wishing that Discord wasn't hurting so much.

* * *

Discord lay atop his couch, on his back, and stared at the ceiling.  
 _I love her. In order to save her I need to give into evil, but what if I can't turn back? What if I lose control? What if I try to take over Equestria and they won't be able to stop me because they won't have the Element of Kindness? If I gave into evil, would I be capable of joining Sombra? No, of course not...right? No, I couldn't, I wouldn't. I wouldn't betray Fluttershy like that, especially after that...Tirek incident._

His thoughts were rummaging through his head, stressing him out. Surely he would be able to control himself if he gave into darkness for just a few minutes, right?

"Technically I don't really have a choice," he spoke, aloud, to himself, "I mean, who else would do it? Luna? No, Sun-Burn would have a fit...*sigh, I guess I really do have to do this." He sat up straight an looked around his living room.

"*Sigh, how am I even supposed to..." he stopped, remembering the reflection he had encountered earlier. _Could I really do that?_ he though to himself.  
Slowly, he got off of the couch and walked through a portal he had, right then and there, conjured with a snap of his paw.

He appeared in Fluttershy's cottage, the animals were running rapidly everywhere. He snapped his talons and they were each fed and calmed down within a second. Satisfied with his work, he walked up her stairs and into her bedroom. The bed was still bigger than its usual size. Her curtains were drawn, so the moonlight was shining in through the glass. He sat upon her bed and brushed the covers with his paw.

"Oh Fluttershy," he whispered. He flopped down onto his back, pressing his fur into her blankets. Her familiar scent was clouding the room. He grabbed one of her pillows and sniffed it joyously.  
Angel Bunny hopped into the room. The draconequus' ears perked up at the slight sound of bunny paws and sat upright, facing the little creature. The white rabbit gave Discord a glare, the two of them weren't on very good terms.

"What?" Discord said blandly.

"Wheres Fluttershy?"  
Discord sighed.

"King Sombra has her."  
The bunny started squeaking rapidly. Discord tugged out both his ears and waited for the raging to stop. Once the bunny had calmed down, he hopped over to the edge of the bed and clambered up the sheets. Discord was about to push him off but didn't feel he had the energy and figured that he might not mind the company, even if it was her white bundle of annoyance. Angel didn't say anything, or make any sounds. Both of their backs were facing each other. Discord stared at Fluttershy's fireplace while Angel saw the left wall of her room.

"So..." Discord started.

"You've known Fluttershy for a while?"  
Angel turned his head to the sound of the voice and slowly nodded his head. Discord couldn't see the bunny but somehow felt him nod.

"How old was she when she found you?"

"Pardon?" Discord asked.

"She was 11 years old," he said.

"I see...how'd you two meet?"

"Well...his is just what she's told me.

It was a few days after she had gotten her cutie mark, she had gotten help from some unicorns to help her make contact with her parents. She was too afraid to fly all the way back up to Clousdale. Eventually she made it. She was practicing going through the hoops, up in Cloudsdale. Her parents still wanted her to learn to fly properly and were upset when they found out she was a pegasus destined to live on the ground. Still, they made her fly.  
So then that one day, as she was going through the cloud hoops she tripped on the bottom of the first one and fell on the tuft of Cloudsdale. These two colts came up to her and started laughing. They teased her about her cutie mark and said that pegasi weren't meant to live on the ground but that she would've been useless either way.  
She was so sad...once the colts left, she sat at the edge of Cloudsdale and told me that she could barely see the ground. She kept trying to tell herself to just jump and fly towards the Earth but she was too afraid. She then tried taking a step forwards but the piece of cloud was loose and she ended up, once again, falling. She tried spreading her wings but she just...didn't.

She landed in Froggy Bottom Bog, thankfully-"

"She seems to have quite the reputation with that swamp," Discord interrupted whilst shuddering at the memory.

"Wha?" Angel asked.

"I'll tell you after...continue your story."

"Umm...ok.

She landed in the swamp and quickly got out, she was lost in the forest and didn't know how to get out of the Everfree. That was her first time being in there. She started walking along a path but spotted two Timber Wolves ahead. They were hunched around something, it was me. She was scared and I could tell, I still remember that look on her face, but she just...kept getting closer. The Timber Wolves spotted and approached her, I guess she just didn't know what else to do. She bolted towards me, picked me up and started dashing through the forest. When she ran past a tree branch it ricoched and smashed one of the Wolves to smithereens. It wasn't long before she tripped on a tree root and fell though. She had hit her foreleg on a rock and smashed her head against a tree trunk. The other Timber Wolf was getting closer and she was unable to move. He put his paw on her tail and ripped it a bit..."

 _Is that why she uses tail extensions?_ thought Discord.

"I got out of her arms and threw a rock into the wolf's mouth and it exploded. I hopped to the edge of the forest and saw somepony gardening flowers on an unowned lot. I eventually got their attention and they followed me to where Fluttershy was. We got her to the Hospital, she stayed there for about a week until they released her. After that, we eventually just bonded. When she was old enough, she moved into her cottage and I was her first animal."

They sat in silence for a while.

"It's so strange," said Discord.

"What?"

"That while all of that was happening, I was in stone and didn't even know she existed. Now...(he sighed) I'm in love with the dang pegasus and she doesn't even know, I think. If she doesn't, then I might never get the chance to tell her..."

"You said something happened to Fluttershy in Froggy Bottom Bog again?" asked Angel.

"Oh...yeah..." Discord explained all that had happened and was saddening at remembering his first friend.

"She likes you too, you know," Angel said. Discord craned his neck to the right a bit.

"Huh?"

"You said you (gag) loved her right? Well, I think she likes you that way too...I mean if you saw her on Tuesday," he whistled, "I can't speak for Fluttershy but from a bunny's point of view it seems to look that way."

"R...really?" he said anxiously. Angel sighed, as much as a rabbit could.

"Yyyup."

A grin spread across Discord's face.

"You're gonna get her out of there right?" asked Angel hopefully. Discord hesitated in the slightest.

"Promise?" Angel said.

"I promise to do everything in my power, if it takes me to my final breath, I will get her out of there."

"Good...how?"

"Well...I might have to visit an unreformed friend from my past but...I can do it. No matter what."

Discord looked at his dim reflection in one of her windows and swore he could've seen an evil glare in his own eyes. He took a deep breath and flopped down on the bed, avoiding the white bunny.

"No matter what."


	20. Chapter 20: He's Back

I'm sorry I haven't been uploading much lately, and I hope you guys like the new and modified version of this story. I don't know how the rest of you feel but I think how I changed it was the right way to go. Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

Fluttershy slowly raised her eyelids as the smallest amount of sunlight spread across the room. She realized she was on the stone cold floor, laying top what looked like a murdered pillow. There were feathers everywhere and a tattered pillow cover lay across from her. Everything that had happened last night, including her dream although it was a bit of a blur, came and hit her like a bomb. She remembered Sombra and the faintest part of her mind remembered Discord. Discord...but how. How could she have seen him? She then had part of her memory recalled about Luna linking their dreams and Discord was there...with her. Oh how she missed him. He always knew how to comfort her and what to do to make her smile. She loved that about him.

Her head bolted upright as Sombra started to open her door. She slightly backed away from the metal door as the black unicorn king entered.

"My, what happened in here?" he asked, gesturing to the mess of pillows scatter across the floor. Fluttershy didn't say anything.

"Very well then...come to the library in 5 minutes," was all he said before he turned to leave. Fluttershy barely blinked and just watched as the door closed. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling for 5 minutes thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days, she had even lost count. She didn't care about what he wanted anymore, but she forgot about the necklace. It started to glow and used its magic to pull her towards the library. The door opened magically and stabbed her with its magical crystals the more she resisted. Soon enough she was in the library.

"Ah right on time, how punctual."

"What do you want?" she asked calmly but with a hint of attitude.

"I have a proposition for you," he said smugly. She slowly raised her head to show she was listening. _A proposition?_

"W...what k...kind of pro...proposition?"

"You see, as much as I enjoy you being my guest, I feel like I am simply just wasting time...It's time to get down to what this is _really_ about."

"A...and what's that?" she asked, a bit more frightened.

"You're magic," he smirked with a wicked grin. Fluttershy paled.

"M...my magic? But I don't-"

"Remember that Time spell you performed? Besides I'm not talking about Unicorn magic, I'm talking about your Element of Kindness."  
Fluttershy was confused.

"Still not getting it? Well let me express this a bit more clearly then," he said annoyed and angry, he used his magic to pull Fluttershy closer. She pulled her head back as her pupils shrank. "I need you to give me your Magic, and if you would be a dear and just be cooperative it would help me oh so much."

"Umm...no," she whispered and turned away.

"What!?"  
She took a deep breath and faced him.

"No, I will not give you my magic...I don't even know where you'd get the idea that I would just pass an Element of Harmony directly into _your_ hooves."

"You _will_ give it to me, one way or another!" he started yelling. Fluttershy slowly backed away but he persisted her.

"Why don't you just take it then!?" she snapped.

"Because you need to give it up willingly," he gritted through his teeth. _Does he think I'm stupid or something? Why would I ever give up my Element?_

"It'll be quick, and right after you'll have no worries, no burdens."

"Never! You're insane." She turned to leave but was, instead, flung against a bookshelf as a pile of books fell on her. It hurt...a lot.

"You monster," she softly cried. He crouched down next to her and had a sharp glare in his eye.

"You have no idea," he said darkly. Fluttershy faced away from him and buried her face in her hooves.

"I'll get it...like I said, one way or another, your Element's magic will be mine!"

"You already have magic, why do you need the power of one Element of Harmony?"

"Because, to me, the Elements are a threat and without one of the bearers, I will be one step closer to winning over Equestria."

"And you think I'll just give my Element up so easily?"  
He smirked.

"We'll see."  
Fluttershy started to get up.

"There is nothing you could do to me that would change my mind!" she said and then turned her back towards him, walking back to her _room._

"What if it wasn't you who got hurt?" Fluttershy stopped in her tracks. Sombra saw that he had her attention.

"I know about you and that Draconequus fellow, how you feel for each other. It would...be a shame if something were to happen to him."  
Fluttershy whipped her head to face Sombra and got closer to him.

"Leave Discord out of this! None of this is his fault, and there is no way that you could catch him. He could escape any trap with a snap of his fingers!"

"Unless it was a forcefield entirely made of darkened love Magic," he grinned evilly. Fluttershy's face paled.

"Don't touch him!"

"And why not?" he persisted. Fluttershy hesitated,

"Why not!" he yelled. That's it, she thought.

"Because I Love Him!" She quickly turned and ran into the prison that she had been staying in while...crying.

"Found it," he smirked, he had found Fluttershy's weaker of her weak spots.

* * *

Discord was back home, staring at his reflection. It was normal, for now.

"I have to do it," he said to himself. "It's the only way..."

He looked away from the mirror, and stared at a picture frame that hung on his wall of him and Fluttershy. He sighed.

"Don't do it for that weak pegasus, do it for yourself...you know you need this," said a similar but darker voice. Discord looked back at the mirror and saw that his "old friend" had returned.

"If Fluttershy wasn't in danger, there's no way I'd even consider this!" he snapped and then walked away. He sat down in his checkered chair and made a mirror appear in his hands.

"Show me Fluttershy," he demanded softly. The mirror swirled and then shown the pegasus mare running through the halls of Sombra's castle, she was crying. She ran into her _room_ and shut the door slowly. She leaned against it and stood up on her forelegs but slowly falling closer to the floor.

"Don' touch him, don't touch him..." she kept repeating through sobs. _Who is she talking about?_

Fluttershy then walked over to her bed and cried till the mattress was soaked. Discord watched her cry for about 5 minutes until Sombra came into the room. _What does he want now?_ Discord asked himself angrily.

"Thought about my proposition?" he inquired.

"I'll never give you my magic!" she yelled in sobs. Discord went pale, he was trying to take her magic already?

"What about Discord? Are you going to be so selfish and let him suffer?" he smiled maliciously. What was happening!?  
Fluttershy tried to answer Sombra but she just kept choking back sobs. But then let out a murmur.

"What was that?" asked Sombra.

"Don...tou...m," she said with a muffled voice.

"Please try that once again, my hearing isn't what it used to-"

"Don't touch him! Don't go near Discord! Don't bring him into this...please," she whispered the last part.

"Hmm...we'll see. Well, see you in 2 hrs for your Lunch," he said slamming the door. Fluttershy wiped her cheeks and walked towards she window.

"Discord...I don't even know if you're listening or not but...Sombra is trying to use you to make me give up my magic and I know that you can take care of yourself and have your chaos magic to back you up but...you can be really stubborn," she gave a small laugh...as did Discord.

"Be careful Discord," she said before getting back atop her bed.

Discord used his magic to return the mirror back to its original state.

"I'd better tell Twilight," he mumbled.

He snapped his eagle talon and disappeared in a burst of magic.

* * *

Twilight jumped as Discord appeared in the Dining Room at Canterlot Castle. The five mares sat around a rectangular Table. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

"Oh, you...you're back?" Twilight said surprised.

"Umm...yeah, why wouldn't I come back?" he asked annoyed.

"Well, you seemed...pretty upset th...*sigh, nevermind."

"Good because I have some interesting news for all of you."  
He paused and all was silent.

"Well, aren't you gonna ask me what it is?" he said raising his furry eyebrow.

"Ugh, what's the new Discord?" Twilight asked.

"Glad you asked...now apparently, Sombra is already attempting to get Fluttershy's Elemental Magic so that means we have to work fast," he said encouragingly.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Applejack questioned.

"Ugh...my magic, for now, may not be able to break the forcefield but it can allow me to see whats going on inside the Castle...anymore useless questions?...No? Good."

"So how are we going to get in?" Rarity asked.

"Right...well I've decided that I will try and go back to my 'evil ways' but just to get inside...I hope."

"What do you mean?" Applejack inquired.

"I just hope I'll be strong enough to get rid of that part of me once inside again...I mean there is a chance I could let my 'dark side' take over me..." he said solemnly.

"You can do it..." a small voice said. Everyone turned and was surprised to see that those words had come out of Rainbow's mouth. Discord relaxed and gave her a small smile.

"Thanks...but how do you know?"

"Because you'll be with Fluttershy...if she melted your heart once, I don't doubt she can do it again...and thats all the sappy stuff I'm gonna say," she said crossing her hooves.

"Thanks," Discord said once more.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go get Fluttershy!" Pinkie cheered.

"Just a sec pinkie, it's gonna take a while to-"  
Applejack was cut off by the fact that Discord had teleported them to the edge of the barrier surrounding the Crystal Empire.

"Oh...right," she said. Everypony had scarfs and hats on themselves, courtesy of Discord. Discord took a deep breath.

"Well...I guess this is it," Rainbow said. Discord looked nervous.

"Yeah." He didn't move for a while.

"Discord, whats wrong?" Twilight asked, wondering why he was delaying.

"W...what if when I'm evil I end up hurting her...what if end up making things worse and what if I-"

"Discord!" Rainbow snapped, "Us at least trying is much better than doing nothing and letting Fluttershy be drained of her magic."  
Discord hadn't thought really thought about that part.

"You can do it darling," Rarity said reassuringly. He took a deep breath.

"Ok," he said calmly. He walked right up to the barrier and made a mirror appear in his hand. He waited a while until his 'evil' reflection appeared.

"Ah, so is there anything you'd like to say?" he asked evilly.

"Quiet...this will all be over soon," he said whilst sighing after. The ponies waited for Discord to do something.

"Do it," Discord gritted, preparing for whatever would come next. An evil cackle was heard from the mirror as Discord's reflection turned into smoke and left the mirror. The purple and green, chaotic looking smoke circled Discord and then dived towards where his heart would be. Discord grabbed his chest and dropped the mirror in pain.

"Ahg!" he screamed. The five ponies watched in terror as their friend was torn apart from the inside. The process lasted for too long. They all felt bad for Discord and wished that they could do something.

Discord fell on his knees and bent towards the ground, he stayed that way for a while in a silent state. His back was to the five mares but they could almost tell that it was done.

The Lord of Chaos was back.


	21. Chapter 21: Love is Strong

Discord's eyes glowed as he slowly stood up. He had an evil smile spread across his face as he looked at the Crystal Empire.

"Discord...you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Ha ha ha, oh Twilight...I've never been better," he laughed mischievously. He snapped his lion paw and turned the ice on the ground into soap, and the snow filled clouds into cotton candy. Twilight took a deep breath.

"Discord you need to get into the Crystal Empire! It's very important."

"Why would I want to get into the Crystal Empire?"

"Be...because...," she had to think, she had to give The Lord of Chaos a good reason to break into an Empire... "Because Sombra wants to take over Equestria...he is planning on attacking you so that nopony gets in the way!" that should reach him...right?

"Ha, Sombra thinks he can beat me at my own game? I will be the only one taking over Equestria here!" Discord said proudly. He put both of his hands on the forcefield and closed his eyes.

Sombra was walking around his castle, towards Fluttershy's room with her 'lunch'. He knocked on the door but didn't wait for a response and walked into her room. She was laying on her bed, awake. She didn't give any sign that she knew he was there, but of course she did.

"Here is your...food," he said ignorantly as he tossed it to the bottom of her bed. He walked towards her, just noticing how thin she looked, not that he cared. He waited for her to move or at least look at the food, but got no such satisfaction. He started walking towards her window.

"So...have you given any thought to the offer I m-" he stopped short as he noticed five colourful mares and a draconequus standing outside his forcefield. Sombra panicked for a brief second but then realized that they'd never get through the force field anyway. He just watched them stand there helplessly, not giving notice to the cotton candy clouds or soapy snow. He was about to turn back and face Fluttershy when he realized what was actually happening.

The shield slowly started to melt in the area that Discord put force on. He could feel his paw and claw start to slip through, his arms, his body, his tail...he was through.

Sombra's pupils shrank. He went to Fluttershy's bed and yanked her off by her wings.

"What are you doing!?" she resisted.

"Come NOW!" he demanded. They were here for Fluttershy, he was sure of it but he needed her magic! Fluttershy was struggling as Sombra dragged her out of the room. He started sweating, knowing that this could be it.

They arrived in the library. Fluttershy was thrown into the middle of the room.

"What do you want now!?" she asked angrily.

"Oh shut up," he said. Sombra used his magic to encase Fluttershy in chains that appeared from the floor. Chains wrapped her hooves, wings and neck. She cried in pain as the chain around her neck put pressure on the necklace that Sombra had placed on her. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"What are you doing!?" she gasped in pain as she crouched towards the ground.

"Waiting."

Discord was through the barrier and looked back at the five mares who were still on the outside.

"Where are you Sombra?" he snarled. He hovered above the ground slowly towards the castle, as he turned his head to look at his whereabouts he couldn't help but feel a pang of something uneasy inside him.

He climbed the stair case that led to the first floor. It was dark but the hallways were lit with torches that shone green flames. Discord didn't know which way to go but his ears caught the soft sound of a seemingly familiar voice. The voice was feminine and sounded in pain, Discord felt another pang of emotion within him. The screams came from the hallway to his left. Discord stood on his two mismatched feet and slowly walked down the hallway, cautiously for something didn't seem to sit right within him.

Discord kept continuing down the halls but stopped when he came to an open door to his left. He took a peek inside it and noticed the scattered feathers and empty pillow case on the ground. Why did this look familiar? Another pang hit him, but this time he felt that it was closer to his heart.

He kept continuing down the dark hall and soon enough came to two large doors that had been left open. He slowly poked his head inside the room only to find it to be pitch black. He stepped inside, suspicious. Suddenly, lights flared in the room and showed a buttercream pegasus, who seemed unconscious, laying on the floor surrounded in chains. Discord felt another pain, but it was much bigger and attacked his heart greatly. He didn't understand why this was happening but this pegasus looked so, so...familiar. He then noticed that there was a small amount of blood around her neck.

*crack

Discord grabbed his head and looked to the ground as he felt a great amount of evil lift from inside him. He could feel the stone around his heart break. He opened his eyes wide as he looked around himself, realizing he had gotten through. He was about to sigh until his eyes fell upon her.

"Fluttershy?" he whispered. The realization didn't seem to hit him yet, until...it did. "FLUTTERSHY!" he tried to run to her side but was stopped by a blast of unicorn magic.

"Uh uh uh...I'm afraid it's not that easy Discord," Sombra grinned evilly, revealing himself from the shadows.

"Sombra," Discord glared.

"Hello, Discord. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Fluttershy's release," he demanded.

"Ooh that's a hard one," Sombra said. He used his magic to release Fluttershy from the chains and pulled her over to where he stood.

"Fine, you won't do this with words? Then how abut with actions," Discord said as he stood in a battle stance. Sombra created a glass looking semi circle around Fluttershy. Discord used his magic to blast Sombra with cotton candy. Sombra got sticky but evaporated it with his magic. Sombra drew a surge of magic and tried to hit Discord with black crystals but Discord just slid backwards, dodging them.

Discord took plunder seeds from thin air and threw them at Sombra's feet, quickly using a spell to make them grow faster. Sombra watched as he was imprisoned in pokey thorns. Sombra lit his horn and vanished them instantly.

Sombra threw hundreds of small crystal shards from his horn, aiming them at Discord. Discord quickly made a shield appear and blocked them.

Attack after attack, Discord and Sombra fought until the entire library looked like a bomb had gone off. Neither of them had noticed that Fluttershy had started to awaken. Her eyelids fluttered and she slowly raised her head. She felt around her neck to find that it was so sore. Her attention then gazed upon the two magical beings battling in the same room. Her eyes fell on Discord and she could feel a small smile inside her. A small bit of hope.

Sombra and Discord kept dueling, getting more and more agitated. Sombra turned to see that Fluttershy was awake. He smiled menacingly as Discord was about to hit Sombra again. He quickly undid his glass barrier spell and pulled Fluttershy in front of him.

Discord noticed just in time and stopped the attack.

"Fluttershy," Discord said with a small grin.

"Discord," she returned the emotion.

"Now Fluttershy I want you to remember that little proposition I made for you."  
Fluttershy's eyes widened and she began to shake her head wildly.

Sombra used his magic to keep her hooves trapped in the same place.

"Don't hurt her!" Discord said bravely.

"No Discord, don't worry about me! Run!" Fluttershy yelled.

"No, I'm not leaving you!" he said confidently. Sombra began to smile wickedly.

"Please, he's going to hurt you!"

"No I can't!"

"I'm not worth your life, don't give up what you have!"

"Don't you understand, you're worth more than anything I could ever care about. You are worth far more than my life!"

"You don't mean that, you'll forget about me! Please Discord, I don't wanna see you get hurt! Please run while you still have the chance!"

"I'm not going anywhere!"

"Why, why can't you run?!" she cried through tears.

"Because I can't lose you again!"

The room went silent.

"Fluttershy I...I Ahg!" Discord yelped in pain as Sombra hit him in the chest with a blast of strong dark magic.

"NO!" Fluttershy wailed. Discord was on his knees panting.

"So Fluttershy, what will it be?" Sombra turned towards her with his back facing Discord. Fluttershy looked towards the injured draconequus as they shared eye contact. Discord shook his head.

"I'm sorry Discord," Fluttershy sighed with tears in her eyes.

"Sombra, I...I agr-"

"No!" Discord yelled as he threw a ball of immense power towards Sombra. Frighten for his life, in the spilt few seconds Sombra had, he performed a spell. Sombra aimed his horn at Fluttershy as a stream of magic seemed to link the two but then disappeared. The ball of magic hit Sombra right on impact and it seemed to effect him deeply.

In his rage, Discord was about to throw another blast of magic until he noticed that the effect of his magic had also greatly impacted Fluttershy. She lay on the floor, alive and awake, but in deep pain.

"Wh...what? Fluttershy!" he tried to run to her but was stopped by another one of Sombra's attacks. Discord was about fire back.

"Ah ah ah," Sombra said out of breath as he shook his head. "Wouldn't want to hurt Fluttershy now would we?" he taunted.

"What did you do?!" he said enraged.

"Just a simple spell that links Fluttershy and I. Whatever pain or threat effects one of us, will also effect the other. So...you can kill me but..." Sombra ended his sentence to let Discord figure out the rest. Sombra stood up slowly and weakly. Fluttershy was on her knees.

"I've won, theres nothing you can do. You wouldn't dare hurt, let alone kill, her just to vanquish an enemy," he grinned wickedly. Fluttershy looked to Sombra.

"You're right, he wouldn't," she turned her gaze to Discord, "because his heart is too pure now, I made sure of that a long time ago," she smiled at him.

"...but I can," Fluttershy pulled out a crystal shard from behind her back that had been left on the floor from Discord and Sombra's battle. She raised the shard high and then...Fluttershy's stomach and the shard made contact as she was impaled. Discord's pupils shrank. Fluttershy yelped in pain and then ripped the crystal out and threw it across the room.

"No!" Sombra cried. Sombra crumbled to the floor and whined in pain. Soon enough, Sombra turned to ash and was carried off in the wind, never to be seen again. The castle and the entire empire returned to its natural state, as well as the barrier disappearing.  
Discord ran to Fluttershy's side with tears in his eyes. He picked up her small figure and held her in his embrace. Fluttershy pushed her head against Discord's fur. She was still alive because of her magic that kept her breathing for a little while longer. Discord tried to use his magic to heal her but it wouldn't work.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Discord cried.

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy...no, no, no," he kept repeating.

"Discord," she said softly, "I'm so sorry," the words tumbled out weakly.

"Why, why d...did you-"

"Shhh, it's ok. I just couldn't let you get hurt. None of this was your fault, you didn't deserve to get caught in the crossfire."  
Discord smiled weakly. Suddenly there were loud trotting noises coming from the hallway.

"Fluttershy?!" five familiar voices called. Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Twilight burst into the library. They all looked upon Discord who was holding their friend in his arms. His fur was soaked with tears and Fluttershy was bleeding. The five mares ran to her side.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow yelled. "Wh..what happened," she said holding back tears.

"I...I defeated Sombra."

"But it cost her, her life," Discord said bluntly with no emotion.

"You...you're gonna...die?" Twilight asked, her eyes watered.

"I'm sorry," she said calmly. Each of her friends came in for a group hug.

"I'm sorry girls, I...I wish there was another w...way but..."  
Her friends backed away a few hooves and crowed together, weeping.

"I'm sorry, but I thought this would be l...less painful for y...you," she said weaker and weaker.

"Well, you're sadly mistaken my dear. There is not amount of physical pain that...that could some close to this."

"W...why?"

"Because you are the only one whose ever been able to *sniff, actually make me feel like I have a heart that's alive instead of one made from stone."

"Well...life should be easier then, shouldn't it?" she said grimly.

"B...but I need you."

"I'll always be with you Discord, I...I...ahg!" she cried as she felt a tug at her heart. Discord's eyes widened.

"No, please! Please stay with me! I love you," he sobbed as he touched his forehead to hers. She softly touched his cheek and made him face her. She weakly lifted up her head and touched her lips to Discord's and whispered in his ear.

"I love you too," were her last few words before she fell faint and lost any sign of life. Her friends all crowded around her with their heads down.

"No...no! Please!" he sat there with her in his arms sobbing. He kissed her forehead and combed her pink strands of hair.

"I loved you, and I always will, I love you so damn much you have no idea!"

The room appeared grey and depressing as the six creatures mourned their friend. It was silent, until the faint sound of magic could be heard. Everyone, except Discord, looked towards the necklace that Fluttershy was wearing and watched as it turned blue. Colour returned to the room and to Fluttershy's body. The necklace now had a golden chain with a crystal blue heart in the middle.

Fluttershy's eyes opened as she took a breath of air. Her chest began to rise and fall. Her friend's eyes were wide and their smiles were wider. Fluttershy looked up at Discord who still had his head bowed. Fluttershy slowly wrapped her hooves around his neck and pulled him closer to her. Discord's eyes now flung open as he looked at the beautiful, breathing and alive buttercream pegasus that was Fluttershy.

"Flu...Flutter-" he was stopped as Fluttershy smacked her lips to his. He felt his heart flutter as he shared the moment with her. They soon broke apart and looked at each other longingly. Discord put his paw and claw under her armpits and stood up tall and gave her a tight hug.

"Oh, my dear. You'll never know how much I truly love you," Discord said happily.

"Well however much that is...I want you to know the feeling is mutual...Mr. Lord of Chaos."

* * *

Authors Note: Whoo hoo! 2 Chapters in less than 24 hrs! I really hope you guys enjoyed that. There will be about 1 or 2 more chapters until The End.


	22. Chapter 22: Healing her Scars

Fluttershy looked around her and gave a large sigh of relief.

"Ooh, shiny necklace!" Pinkie said cheerily. Fluttershy looked down at her neck and touched the crystal.

"But...before it was red and black and..." she didn't really want to get into details. Twilight stepped forward and examined the heart. She gasped.

"This IS the Crystal Heart! Sombra must have used black magic on it but when Fluttershy and Discord expressed their love for one another it was able to restore its self again because its power comes from love," she said proudly. Fluttershy looked up at Discord and smiled. She softly nuzzled his neck as he held her tighter.

"Aww," Pinkie exclaimed.

"Ewww," Rainbow exaggerated. "Just because I'm not against this doesn't mean you get to do...that all the time. I mean seriously, get a room!" every pony laughed at Rainbow's comment. Twilight sighed.

"Well I guess we better be getting home now, especially you Fluttershy. I'm sure you're looking forward to it more than any of us."

"Thanks Twilight, you couldn't be more right," Fluttershy replied. They were all about to head out of the library when Twilight remembered something.

"Oh, the Crystal Heart!" she exclaimed. Twilight walked over to Fluttershy.

"Can you take it off?"  
Fluttershy paled, what about the scars?

"Umm...yeah...sure, just give me a second, oh and can I borrow one of your scarfs?" she asked.

"No need my dear," Discord reassured as he snapped his claws and a teal scarf appeared in Fluttershy's hoof.

"Thank you," she said before walking into a corner.

"Umm, Fluttershy, why are you going into the corner?" Rainbow asked suspiciously.

"Oh, umm, because I need to take it off with my hooves and the walls are good for balance," she replied nervously.

"Ah huh...obviously," Rainbow muttered sarcastically.

"Darling, if you want, Twilight or myself could just take it-"

"Did it!" Fluttershy stopped Rarity mid sentence. She quickly wrapped the scarf around her neck and handed Twilight the necklace.

"Umm...thank you," Twilight said calmly, though still curious. Finally, they all exited the room and headed towards the outside. Applejack caught up to Twilight and they walked side by side.

"Twi?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah?"

"I feel like Fluttershy's hiding something, cause I know a lie when I see one and she was all over it."

"I agree but I'm sure she has her reasons and she'll probably confess," Twilight reassured. Applajack nodded her head and they kept walking. Fluttershy and Discord were at the back of the line, walking side by side. Discord would steal glances at Fluttershy whenever he noticed her fidgeting with her scarf. _She's p...probably fine...right?_

"Fluttershy?" he asked, not being able to take it any longer.

"Yes Discord?" she replied.

"Is something wrong?" he asked with pleading eyes. Fluttershy could feel sweat on her face but tried to keep cool. If Discord saw the scars and how bad they were, he would freak out.

"No, I...I'm fine. I'm just trying to get the scarf in a comfortable position," she explained with a, seemingly, convincing smile.

"Well...alrighty, but if something _is_ or _does_ bother you, then please tell me?"  
She gave a small nod and a "mmm hmm."

They kept walking till they were out of the castle and outside where the Crystal Heart was supposed to be.

"Alright," Twilight said. She used her magic to take the small heart of the necklace; the chain fell to the floor. She then, used a very powerful spell to restore the heart to it's former size. She bit her lip as her horn ignited a bright glow. Soon the magic faded and the heart was back to normal. She placed it above the giant snowflake that surrounded its pedestal. Twilight took a sigh of relief.

"Well, now that that's done," she said, hoping Discord would catch on as she gave him a glance. He nodded, picking up what she was putting down. He snapped his talons and sent everypony to Twilight's castle.

"Thank you Discord," Twilight.

"No problemo."

"Now, you can all go home or help me get all the crystal ponies packed and ready to go home," she listed.

"I'll help ya Twi," Applejack said.

"I would darling but I simply must get back to work, I hope you understand?" Rarity said. Twilight nodded, meaning that it was fine.

"I have some time to kill," Rainbow said.

"I can help too, but only for a bit. I have a party to put together in 5 hours!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I would absolutely Love to get a bunch of sparkly ponies back home but I have some very important...stuff I need to do," Discord grinned. Twilight's head then turned towards Fluttershy.

"Twilight I-"

"No, it's ok Fluttershy...you've been through enough...go home an rest," Twilight sympathized. Fluttershy nodded a thank you, which Twilight returned. Fluttershy was relieved to be home but also wished to have some relief on her neck.

"Umm, if it's alright, I think I'm gonna head home," Fluttershy expressed calmly.

"Of course, we hope that you recover from this whole...incident soon darling," Rarity said.

"Yeah...me too," Fluttershy whispered the last part, before turning on her hooves and heading for the door. Nopony noticed the missing draconequus from the room.

Fluttershy trotted along the path home, once and a while trying to fly or at least hover...but it would all end the same-she would fall. She cursed herself for being so stupid and inconsiderate the past few days. She just wished that everything that had happened would just fade away from memory. She sighed as she thought of all the pain that she had made Discord endure. She still found it hard to believe that he had feelings for her. What did she have to offer? She wasn't strong, or smart, or brave, or...beautiful, or exciting and chaotic. Maybe he just thought of her as a friend and was caught up in the moment.

She sighed.

"I'm such a fool," she whispered aloud. She didn't notice the draconequus secretly following her down the path, trying to figure out what she was thinking. When he heard her speak, he wanted to wrap her up in his arms and tell her that she was perfect the way she was. But he knew he couldn't reveal himself just yet, he had suspicions about her awkward behaviour and was determined to figure out what exactly was happening.

* * *

Discord teleported himself to Fluttershy's cottage and made sure that it was clean and neat, the way she liked it. He may have found it a bit boring, but as long as she was content that was all that mattered. All the animals seemed to give him strange glances.

"It's not nice to stare you know," she said with a "humph" before crossing his arms. He looked around the room and noticed that all the food bowls were empty. He didn't want Fluttershy to worry about feeding her animals when she got home...after all she did deserve at least a few moments of peace. He snapped his talons and filled each bowl to the brim. Discord grinned, glad to be useful. He rushed over to the window and saw the lovely buttercream pegasus trotting down the path. He made himself invisible and waited. He hoped that she wouldn't be too upset that he snooped but he did have good motives.

Fluttershy arrived home and was met with tons of friendly faces, that practically tackled her. She beamed and chuckled as she received the affection. She slowly sat up and tried to give them all a group hug.

"I missed you all too," she laughed. Angle hopped atop her head and seemed to snuggled in her familiar mane. Fluttershy smiled and carefully brought her bunny face to face and gently nuzzled him, before placing a soft kiss atop his forehead.

"I'm guessing you're all hungry," she said, looking at all the mouths before her, but she was surprised when she saw the half full/half empty food bowls lying around. She was confused but didn't think too much of it. One of her friends must have frequently visited and fed the animals.

"Agh," she groaned as she felt her neck. _One of the animals must have put pressure on it._ She thought.

Discord watched cautiously as Fluttershy seemed to moan in pain. His pupils shrank as he watched her hold back tears and put her hooves to the scarf.

Fluttershy could feel the pain worsening as she stood there. She was, sadly, reminded of all that she had endured in that castle and began to feel the horrid memories play in her head like a slide show.

She stood up, quickly, and rushed upstairs towards her bathroom, unbeknownst, with Discord following close behind. He was fearful and extremely worried. He followed her into her bathroom and backed up a bit behind her. She was looking in the mirror and then slowly, she took the scarf off, revealing the marks that had been left. Discord watched in horror as he saw the dried up blood stains on her buttercream coat.

Fluttershy, gently, put a hoof to the marks but felt a pain shoot through her as she touched them.

"Agh," she growled in pain and sadness. She may not have noticed but Discord did, for he knew what dark magic looked like. Once she had touched it, a small spark of dark power had illuminated from her cut. She was just going to keep getting hurt if she kept this up.

Fluttershy, even slower, tried to put her other hoof to a different mark...the biggest one.

"Fluttershy don't!" Discord shouted. Too late, she had already touched it, causing her to revoke her hoof but then the world begun to spin, the ground started to shake.

"Di-disc-cord, wh-hat-" she was too weak to continue and slowly began to crumble to the floor. Luckily, Discord caught her in time. He was filled with panic as he held her lifeless form but was soon relieved when he heard a heartbeat. Oh, how he loved the feeling oh her in his arms. He felt so protective and that nothing could happen to her as long as she was his, and in his arms. He softly nuzzled her cheek and kissed her forehead. Discord frowned, though, as he gazed upon the scars along her neck.

He carried her to her bedroom...he didn't teleport, he walked, wanting to savour the moment and the feel of her. He gently laid her on the bed, expanding it so that he could fit on it with her. Discord carefully climbed onto the bed and slowly pulled her against him. She was so small...so perfect.

He looked down at her pink hair and slowly ran his fingers through it, somehow even without having a shower it still felt and smelt like rose petals, feeling a moment of happiness...which slowly diminished as the scars were once again revealed. He wanted to touch them, to make them go away and to soothe whatever pain she was feeling. He bit his lip as he saw bruises on her body that he hadn't noticed before.

"I'm so sorry Fluttershy...this-this is my fault. I-I promised to protect you from any harm but now..." he choked, not being able to go on. He hadn't noticed the soft and faint noise of eyelids opening.

"It's ok Discord...I-I'm ok," Fluttershy softly reassured, turning around to face him. Discord was glad that she was awake but was ashamed of his inability to fully protect and save her from danger.

"Discord?" Fluttershy's voice brought Discord back to reality.

"Yes dearest Fluttershy?" he asked longingly. Fluttershy gave a soft smile and ran a hoof across his cheek.

"Do-do you truly l-love me?" she asked hesitantly, looking into his eyes. Discord was a bit taken aback but leaned closer towards her and locked gaze with her.

"More than chaos itself," he said simply, but his words held so much meaning, so much love. Fluttershy smiled and could feel the tears well up, but for the first time in what seemed for a while...they were tears of happiness.

"I know I already said it but...I love you too," she said sheepishly, trying to hide a blush. Discord felt lighter than air, hearing those words coming from her mouth...which he started to linger on. Fluttershy could read what he was thinking and slowly started to lean forward, as did he. Soon enough they were embracing one another in a passionate kiss. Which released a powerful magic from within the both of them...healing her scars.


	23. Chapter 23: Promises

Fluttershy awoke early the next morning, having gotten a full rest. She slowly turned to her side and found a familiar draconequus laying next to her. She gave a soft and tired smile as she slowly ran her hoof down his cheek.

He gave a slight groan, causing Fluttershy to relieve a small chuckle.

"Fluttershy...what time is it?" he moaned, increasing her silent laugh.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"Go back to sleep," he said tiredly. Fluttershy always enjoyed his antics, but she had never really seen him often in the morning; he seemed so adorable when he was tired.

"I'll think about it," Fluttershy teased. Discord made another soft moan and reached out his lion paw, grabbing her and pulling Fluttershy against his long frame. She may have been a bit sleepy but she was still able to blush.

"Discord?" she asked quietly.

"Hmm?" he replied, still tired, although it wasn't much of a reply.

"Do you mean it when you say you love me?" she asked hopefully but had a hint of tease in her eyes.

"More than anything," he replied, still tired, although meaning each word.

"More than sleep?" she giggled. He just groaned and flipped her on top of his body so that he could, sorta, look her in the eyes.

"Fluttershy? How can you be so evilly adorable in the morning?" he asked. Part of him was dead serious while the other wanted to tease.

"I don't know," she smiled, while shrugging her shoulders. Fluttershy gently nuzzled his fur and curled against his body. "I guess...*yawn, I could sleep for a few more minutes," she yawned dreamily.

Discord carefully enhanced his grip on Fluttershy and craned his neck so that his head rested atop her head. Fluttershy was so happy and peaceful, having not felt that way in what seemed like forever.

* * *

2 Hours Later...

Fluttershy slowly climbed out of bed and headed down the stairs to go and feed the animals. Discord still lay half asleep in her bed, slowly reaching his paw further to try and feel for her. He sadly realized that she had left.

Discord wished that he could have seen her face clearly in the sunlight before she left, she had such an Angel-like face.

She constantly reminded him of and Angel or a Goddess. Her voice was like a beautiful siren, her kindness was so admirable, she was adorable whenever she got flustered, Fluttershy had the tendency to play or fidget with her mane which he found cute, and her eyes...her eyes were like two beautiful Zircon gemstones that shone like stars and twinkled whenever she blinked, and whenever she cried tears of joy that would only furthermore illuminate her eyes.

His gaze slowly wandered to the empty part of the bed and he sighed. He wished he could wake up every morning to hold her and see her face. To cuddle with her and run his fingers through her rosy pink mane, and shower her with kisses each morning. He wanted to make it his mission to get Fluttershy to fall in love with him even more each day.

His eyes slowly widened at his newly found thoughts, slowly realizing what he had to do, he just needed the perfect place and time to do it. He just wished this wasn't going to be the worst idea ever.

Discord slowly got out of bed and went down to the kitchen where Fluttershy was humming sweetly to herself while trying to feed the animals. Sh looked so happy and full of light. Discord sighed and leaned against a wall with his arms folded, grinning slyly.

"Oh, good morning Discord. Sorry, did I wake you?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh, no you did nothing of the sort. Besides it was time for me to get up anyway," he said. Fluttershy smiled and then returned to filling some of the mouses' food bowls. Her head then turned around to look at him again.

"Discord?" she asked.

"Yes my dear?" he replied, wondering what she could be on her mind.

"How does your magic work?" she wondered aloud. Discord was surprised by this question.

"Umm, why?" he asked.

"Well, you said that your magic can't heal drastic injuries but when...when we were-when I was, you know," she said, blushing and now looking at the ground. Discord recalled the memory.

"You mean how I healed you?" he asked, putting it into simpler terms. She slowly nodded her head, now looking directly at him.

"Well, the first time I healed you was because you had the darkened form of the crystal heart around your neck...and I guess when I told you that I...Loved you, that caused it to create the magic that it usually would which is powered by love. Thus healing you," he explained, blushing. Fluttershy smiled back, bet then frowned.

"What about the second time?" she asked, still curious. "I wasn't wearing it that time."

"Yes, but the scars that you had still held the same dark magic which just needed love to transform the dark magic into good," he said, smugly. Fluttershy slyly made her way over to Discord with a cheeky grin on her face.

"So I guess we have a pretty powerful, love then huh?" she asked giddily and shyly. Discord found her actions adorable and picked her up, nuzzling her muzzle with his.

"I guess so," he smirked. Fluttershy gave Discord a peck on the lips before leaping out of his arms to continue feeding the animals.

"I wish I could be more...entertaining, right now Discord," she blushed, "but I have a lot of work to catch up on," she finished. Discord nodded understandably.

"Want any help?" he asked hopefully.

"No, I think I can manage...besides you've done far too much for me already. I should be asking you if there's anything I can do for you...after this anyway."  
Discord's head lit up.

"Actually there is _one_ thing I would like to ask of you," he said cutely. Fluttershy returned his expression. "And what is it exactly and you would like me to do?" she asked.

"Fluttershy, would you do me the honour of going out on a date with me?" he asked, taking a bow. Fluttershy glowed and blushed.

"Yes, I would be happy to comply," she said, returning a bow. Discord grinned and bent low so that he could take her hoof in his paw, kissing it.

"I'll pick you up at seven," he whispered loud enough for her to hear. His words made her shiver with delight. "See you then," she replied softly and quietly into his ear, sweetly but seductively causing him to inwardly moan. She then placed a kiss on his cheek and turned of her hooves towards more food for the animals.

Discord gave one last bow, before snapping his talons and teleporting to his house in his chaotic realm. His heart was still thumping out of his chest from the way she spoke. Fluttershy had never spoken like that before...what was he doing to her? Discord smiled at that thought, feeling playful.

He fell back on his couch, squealing. So much had changed in such a small amount of time, even though it felt like forever. He sighed, trying to think of ways to make this night perfect.

He wanted to make it the most memorable night of Fluttershy's life. He wanted her to forget, even if just for a night, about everything that happened with King Sombra.

Discord started pacing on his roof, defying gravity, while stroking his beard with his lion paw. He started thinking of what she would enjoy, and thought that this would be easy, considering that he knew her so well.

"It needs to be absolutely perfect," he muttered to himself. Discord then received an epiphany and teleported to his destination.

* * *

6:30

Fluttershy frantically rushed around her room, looking for something nice to wear. She pushed through all off her dresses, trying to find the perfect evening gown.  
Angle walked into the room and started squeaking.

"I have to look my best Angle, after all he's done for me...ah ha!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a light pink dress that had white lace underneath it, the part of the dress that went around her waist was the same colour as the gown and hat a white front. The dress was also decorated in pearls around the waist and for the straps. Fluttershy pulled out the matching, white ballet flats that also had a single pearl on each end.

Fluttershy quickly slipped into the dress and brushed her main, wondering if she should style it or not. She eventually decided to curl it a bit and brush it off to one side. Fluttershy didn't put any makeup on but did spritz herself with some light perfume called "Sunny Meadow".

"Fluttershy?" a voice sang from outside. She recognized it immediately and made her way downstairs. Once she reached the door she took a deep breath and opened it.

"Hello Disc..." she lost her voice as she stared at the draconequus before her. Discord was dressed in a black and white tux that made him look devilishly handsome. At the same time, Discord had started to say, "Hello Flutter..." but he too was cut off by the angle before him. She looked like a goddess. He gulped and went down on one knee. He took her hoof in his paw and gave it a gentle kiss. Fluttershy blushed and tried to hide behind her mane but found she couldn't due to the fact that it had been swept to one side.

"You look astonishing my dear," Discord said.

"Umm, thank you Discord, you look lovely aswell," Fluttershy commented, not being able to fully look him in the eye.

"Shall we depart my lady?" he asked, holding out his paw. Fluttershy slowly took it and nodded her head. Discord grinned and teleported them to...Sweet Apple Acres?

"What are we doing here Discord?" Fluttershy asked innocently.

"This is where we are going to have our date, and don't worry, I already asked Applejack if we could borrow a certain spot of her Orchard for a while, so we won't be interrupted," Discord smirked. Fluttershy smiled, although still curious as to why he would choose Sweet Apple Acres of all places for a date.

Discord walked, with Fluttershy in arm, towards a small hill. Once they reached the top, Fluttershy gasped as she looked around. For miles she could see apple trees, tall hills, there were connected waterfalls that formed a river at the bottom and the sun was slowly setting in between two tall mountains.

"Oh Discord i-it's beautiful," she sighed. Discord turned to face her.

"Do you recognize this part of the orchard?" he asked, smiling contently. It took a while for Fluttershy to put the pieces together but when she did, her eyes lit up with happiness as she met his gaze.

"We-we're-"

"We're in the exact same place where you, my dear Fluttershy, succeeded in befriending me. The exact same spot where I began to change for the better. And the exact same spot where I began to fall in love with you," he sighed. Fluttershy turned to him with a wide smile and happy tears in her eyes.

"Oh Discord...it's perfect," she sniffed. Discord leaned down to face her and wiped away a falling tear.

"Now, now. There'll be none of that, let's just enjoy ourselves, shall we?"  
Fluttershy gave one last sniff and nodded her head.

Discord snapped his fingers and made a red blanket appear, along with a picnic basket. The pair sat down on the soft blanket and Fluttershy watched as Discord pulled out two wine glasses, but didn't worry, knowing that they weren't actually going to drink alcohol. Discord snapped his fingers and filled one glass with chocolate milk and the other with ginger ale with a fancy straw.

"Thank you," she whispered, suddenly shuddering at the memory from when she had said those words to King Sombra. Discord noticed her sudden flinch of discomfort.

"Everything alright my dear?" he asked, eyes filled with concern.

"Umm yeah, just got the shivers for a second," she replied, without making direct eye contact. Discord was suspicious but decided not to pester her too much unless he found it absolutely necessary.

"These flowers are nice don't you think?" Discord said, hoping that would lift Fluttershy's spirits, when in fact it did the exact opposite. _My Flower._ Fluttershy shifted in discomfort and replied with a small, "Yeah, they're nice," without even giving a glance at the flowers.

"Fluttershy, are you ok?" he asked, very sincere.

"Mhh hmm, I'm fine," she choked. Discord lifted her chin so that she would look at him.

"Fluttershy I know you better than that and I know you're not fine..." Discord said. Fluttershy gave a sigh.

"It-it's just...Sombra..." tears started to form in her eyes. Discord knew it, and had somewhat expected something like this to happen.

"Fluttershy, Sombra is gone. He won't ever hurt you again..."

"I..I know it's just..." she began and then suddenly a soft music began and Fluttershy looked at Discord with pleading eyes and she began to sing.

" _All I knew, this morning when I woke,  
_ _is I know something now, know something now I didn't before.  
And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago is green eyes with red and purple smoke.  
But you're in the back of my mind making me feel like..._

" _I just want to know you better,  
know you better, know you better now,  
_ _I just want to know you better,  
know you better, know you better now..."_ _  
_

Discord joined the song...

" _I just want to know you better,  
_ _know you better, know you better now,  
_ _I just want to know you better,  
_ _know you better, know you better now..._

 _"Cause all I know is we said 'hello'  
and you're eyes look like coming home,  
All I know is a simple name,  
Everything has changed,  
All I know is you held the door,  
You'll be mine and I'll be yours,  
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed..."_

Discord looked sincerely at Fluttershy and held her hooves in his paw and claw, and began to continue the song.

" _And all my clouds flew high painted pink,  
But I'll take them down,  
Take them down like I did the ice skating rink..."_

Fluttershy smiled and slowly raised a hoof to his cheek, singing.

" _And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies,  
The beautiful kind, making up for lost time,  
taking flight, making me feel like..."_

 _Discord joined her once more._

" _I just want to know you better,  
_ _know you better, know you better now,  
_ _I just want to know you better,  
_ _know you better, know you better now_ " _I just want to know you better,  
_ _know you better, know you better now,  
_ _I just want to know you better,  
_ _know you better, know you better now..._

 _Cause all I know is we said 'hello'  
and you're eyes look like coming home,  
All I know is a simple name,  
Everything has changed,  
All I know is you held the door,  
You'll be mine and I'll be yours,  
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed..._

 _Come back and tell me why,  
I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time, oh, oh, oh  
And you met me here tonight  
And let me know that it's not all in my mind..."_

Fluttershy began to sing solo.

" _I just want to know you better,  
know you better, know you better now,  
_ _I just want to know you, know you, know you..."_

Then they both began to sing in harmony.

" _Cause all I know is we said 'hello'  
_ _and you're eyes look like coming home,  
_ _All I know is a simple name,  
_ _Everything has changed,  
_ _All I know is you held the door,  
_ _You'll be mine and I'll be yours,  
_ _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed..."_

Fluttershy began singing alone once more.

" _All I know is we said 'hello'  
but you got me tight as a rope,  
and all you knew was chocolate rain but everything has changed  
All I know is this new found grace,  
All those days I've known your face..."_

They sang together one last time.

 _"All I know since yesterday is everything has changed."_

They both stared loving at each other and Discord gently but tightly embraced Fluttershy is an embrace.

"I love you Fluttershy," Discord said, being the most sincere he ever had whenever those words left his lips.

"I love you too Discord...I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the scratches or about what was bothering me. I just didn't want to trouble you," she gave a small chuckle.

"Oh Fluttershy, you can trouble me all you want with your problems. Besides how else am I going to fix them?" he asked. Fluttershy gave a small giggle.

"Promise me," he said. Fluttershy sighed against his fur.

"I promise...cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Fluttershy Pinkie Promised. Discord pulled away from the embrace and reached into his pocket.

"Speaking of promises," he said. Discord pulled out a navy blue box and held it towards her. Fluttershy gasped and looked at Discord with the most surprised expression he had ever seen on her face. It was a golden ring with a beautiful pink butterfly in the middle that was framed by gorgeous clear crystals.

"Fluttershy, before you get your mane in a tangle...I just want you to know I'm not proposing, but instead I'm promising. I know how you feel about romance and wanting to know a pony, or draconequus for this matter, before you go off and get hitched. So, this is a promise ring. Fluttershy, my friend, my life, my love, will you promise to marry me sometime in the future?" Discord asked with pleading eyes. Fluttershy felt like her heart was going to explode, she was so lost in his words that she had forgotten that he was awaiting an answer.

Discord started sweating, thinking that she was going to say n-

"YES!" she practically yelled. Fluttershy lunged towards Discord and gave him an ambitious kiss on the lips. Discord was flat against the grass on his back as Fluttershy towered over him with her front hooves on either side of his neck.

"Yes...yes...yes...a million times yes," she replied happily in between kisses. "Oh Discord," she nuzzled his cheek softly, "I would love to marry you and become your wife in the future...there is no other colt for me," she said lovingly.

"But I'm not a-"

"Discord, you are more of a gentle colt than any other colt I've ever met...and ten times for handsom," she whispered. Discord wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Oh is that so? Well my dear, I'll have you know..." he paused so that he could stand up and pick Fluttershy up in his arms, "you are by far the most beautiful creature in Equestria," he flirted. Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around his neck and then pulled back, nuzzling his muzzle with hers.

"Put it on me," she whispered softly, but Discord couldn't have heard her more clearly.

"As you wish my dear," he replied. He used his magic to create a golden chain to go around her neck as he placed the ring through it. Fluttershy admired the ring and smiled.

"Would you like to finish our picnic my dear Fluttershy?" he asked.

"I would like that very much Discord," she smiled, which he happily returned.

When they finished their food and drink, they gazed up at the stars. Fluttershy was on her back but had Discord's lion paw underneath her, pulling her against his body. She gave a small yawn and turned over to face Discord's fur. He took notice of this and smiled.

"Someone tired?" he asked. He could feel her nod against his warm body and he snapped his talons and teleported them both to her cottage.

They appeared in her bedroom, with Fluttershy's dress already off, which Discord blushed at but it wasn't like he had never seen her without clothes. He carried her to her bed, tucking her in and kissing her forehead.

"Goodnight Fluttershy," he sighed happily. He was about to leave until he felt a hoof grasp his eagle hand.

"Stay," Fluttershy said tired but clearly and simply. Discord smiled and snuck in beside her. He felt Fluttershy immediately lean against him and softly cuddle with him.

"Discord?"

"Yes, my dear?"

"I would've said yes to an engagement ring, you know," she said cheekily. Discord's eyes widened.

"W-wai-what?"

"Goodnight Discord, I love you..." she said before dozing off.

"B-but w-what, Fluttershy? Fluttershy what are you?" he sighed in defeat. " Well played my dear...well played," she grinned while softly trailing his paw down her rosy pink mane.

"Goodnight my dear."

* * *

Haza I did it. The song I used is called "Everything has Changed" by Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, with a few of changed lyrics. I hope you guys are pleased with this chapter, and I'm so sorry I haven't been updating more quickly but I've also been busy working on another story on .

If you guys are interested, please go check it out!


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